Fallout Equestria: New Horizons

by starwars90001

Rating: mature
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Adventure, Fallout, Profanity, Violence, Slice of Life, Dark, Death, Alternate Universe
Length: 36648

A reimagining of Fallout Equestria Project Horizons, more violent, more crazy, more fun, a shock to the senses!

Get ready for the reimagining of Project Horizons, a grindhouse shock to the senses! NEW HORIZONS

Equestria has become a wasteland, it's princesses failed it, its bears of harmony are gone. Now the age of brutality, cruelty, and death has come. Nowhere is this more apparent than Hoofington, the most violent region in all Equestria. The strong crush the weak while the land runs red with endless conflict.

But there stand four mares who rise above the chaos of the world to bring righteous fire down upon those who seek to poison and destroy the good left in the world. A capitalist filly, a Cyber Mare, a mutant Alicorn, and an immortal Zony all seek to raise the downtrodden up! And bring death to those who stand in their way.

Origin story Fallout Equestria New Horizons: Demon Mares

Side Story Fallout Equestria New Horizons: Lacunae and Rampage's vacation in paradise.

this a fanfiction based on Fallout: Equestria - Project Horizons, familiar is not required but can help understand this reimagining a bit.

Art by the great Pebuhsart on Newgrounds.

Published 2021-09-03 17:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2022-02-15 04:59:04 UTC

The prologue: Charity’s presentation

The prologue: Charity’s presentation

By Numbername

Well Is He Ill? (yes)

Do he really fit the bill? (yes)

Spit to kill? (yes)

Keep things real? (yes)

Know the drill? (yes)

The ledge edge? (yes)

And still ...(yes)

And catch wreck at will? (yea)

Life takes weird paths sometimes. One minute your barely scratching by having to eat pasta for dinner every day, the next minute your head of the first major business in the Wasteland since the world ended. And I just happened to end up in one of those paths, though it wasn’t completely random. The puzzle pieces just fell into my lap and I put them together. Now I stood as CEO of the last functional industrial city in the whole wasteland, probably the world, and all of this achieved by a 14-year-old, ponies would kill to be where I am. And judging by the looks of the rough-looking ponies in front of me some did.

They were a bizarre gathering of ponies, a few griffins, and a zebra wearing a business suit that looked out of place here. People from all positions of power in the Wasteland; Traders, Carven masters, warlords, Gang leaders, Mercenary company captains, all stared at me with expressions ranging from disbelief to confusion. They expected some grown pony to be here addressing them not a filly barely in her preteens, but I loved that disbelief, it may for more suckers to make a cap off.

“Crusaders.INC is willing to open trade relations with all of you if you meet our requirements first.” I could see that was causing a bit of tension in the crowd. “These requirements are part of the contract and nonnegotiable. Any breaking from them will result in termination of deals and repurpose of assets.” They were throwing questions my way like a waterfall.

“No raiding?” “To follow these requirements would mean cutting off trade with our closest settlements.” “You are straggling us by doing this!”

I sighed, of course, I knew the rules I put forth wouldn’t fly over completely with some in the crowd. my requirements were simple enough, I will not do business with slavers, raiders, pirates, and 30% of their profits were mine. I made sure they all got the message. “If these terms are too much for you to meet.” I pointed to the large glass double doors that led out of the office I decided to hold the meeting in. “That’s the door.” There was no bartering here, either accept or get out.

A large stallion in worn combat armor raised his hoof in a questioning matter. “Ms. Charity these requirements are a little extreme for my company.” All that meant was his mercs couldn’t do business with raiders anymore. “We’d have to terminate all of our existing contracts just to get yours.”

What business mare would I be if I couldn’t barter a little bit. “I’m willing to move on the profit rates if it would negatively impact your businesses but the other more...moral requirements are not up for debate.”

That got more questions, more demand of why they should sign-on. “Ms. Charity.” Finally, that one weird Zebra off to the side spoke. She’d been dead silent through the whole meeting, just staring at me like she was trying to read me. “Your demands are fine but me and my associates want to know if your main services are worth it?” The main question I was waiting to get asked. “We’ve heard tales of these so-called Demon Mares, what we want to know are they worth the price their stories build them up to be?”

Another mare wearing a duster and cowpony hat weighed in. “Yeah 10,000 caps for bandit removal! I could hire an army of Talons for that price.” I saw some Griffins in the room perk up at that. “I don’t think any mercenary service is worth the cost of a small town, even your Demon Mares ain’t worth that.”

Finally, the main question I was waiting for, the selling point of my new business. The city was the major of my new business but my bread and butter were the three mares for which everything I now owned was built, The Demon Mares. I like a good business mare I knew I’d prepared a presentation for my future customers.

“I know to a lot of you my main service seems a bit pricey.” That raised eyebrows. “But let me assure you my mares are worth every cap.” I sighed to my friend that it was time for the presentation then moved to the side of the stage. A white screen descended from the ceiling as a projector followed suit. The screen lit up as the projector buzzed to life, images appeared in and out until stopping on one. A red striped white mare with a bright red mane done into a ponytail. Her eyes glowed pink as she smiled with sharpen teeth that looked devilish on a pony. There were two images of her: One where she was naked and the other with dense-looking armor that rival power armor, spikes ran across her back with equally sharp hoof claws.

“Rampage. The world’s strongest Zebra, the second deadliest Reaper in the Hoof, an immortal zony with the skills of a super commando. Defender of children and the first Crusader.” The screen changed from image to video, a scene of ponies pointing guns at steel double doors from behind crates, fear written on their faces. “This is from a recent mission, a gang had stolen 5,000 caps worth of drugs then held themselves up in a pre-war factory. Watch as Rampage does her work.”

A loud bashing roared as the metal doors bent inward, with each bash a huge dent became more and more pronounced until the doors finally caved in. Standing in the doorway was the strange red striped mare wearing her iconic armor. “Time to Chop Chop!” They fired on her but she was like a lightning bolt, moving like a red blur. The few shots that hit bounce off her armor harmlessly.

Her first victim was a mare pouring SMG fire at the charging striped mare, she received a kick that smashed in her eyes. The striped mare didn’t slow down, like a speeding bullet she was on her next punching bag. That stallion had his throat thrown out with one slash of her hoof claws, another stallion next to him got his forehooves cut off.

Finally, a unicorn mare got a lucky hit with her shotgun, blowing out the strange mare’s right foreleg. “Take that freak! I got her!” She shouted in mad joy.

Her joy quickly turned to shock as pink energy started emitting from the leg, first the bone grew back then the flesh, and finally the coat. The strange mare stared at the mare who was cowering away, shaking her head in a disapproving manner like a mother. “Honey child, you should have stayed home.”

The video stopped as she moved towards the mare. Charity took her place back at the center of the stage. “She’s our search and destroy operative. If you want a nasty group of troublemakers removed we send her.” An image of Rampage’s biology appeared with various diagrams showing her inner workings. “Rampage has the strength to lift 500 tons of weight, can run at 40 miles per hour, doesn’t require sleep, has the combat abilities of several different types of commandos, and most importantly can not be killed.”

Charity could see her presentation was having the desired effect, already the doubts in some of her future patrons were disappearing. All she needed to do was keep showing how it gets better. The screen changed to a unicorn who dwarfed most ponies, her horn looked tall as a spike, her coat was dark blue with a lighter mane. All of that held in comparison to the wings she sprouted, she was the beauty spitting image of one of the goddesses and my best employee.

“Lacunae. Angel of the goddess, Priestess of the elements, deadly assassin. When you have a difficult job Lacunae will resolve it professionally and efficiently.” The screen changed to a dark hallway where a single sky blue mare was smoking, she stood next to a trash can which she kindly threw a cigarette into.

She stood in front of a set of double doors with the label ‘fire escape’ written across its surface. “Why do I get the guard duty?” The mare gave an indignant huff before two holes found their way into her head.

She fell over gasping for life as a familiar alicorn approached from behind her. Lacunae looked at the dying mare over a second before her horn lit up, engulfing her in a blueish field until her body began to change. Lacunae became the spitting image of the dead mare.

“Transformation magic!” A ghoul in the front roll shouted looking positively in awe at what he was witnessing. “Only Changelings or really powerful unicorns can do that!”

These patrons would find my girls were full of surprises. “Lacunae has many talents you could find a use for. In this job in particular she was hired to remove a troublesome gang leader. Watch and see a master at work.”

And a master she was. She walked among the gang as one of their own, talking, fitting in, and learning their routines. Every once in a while she would kill a pony then take up their identity, hiding the body in closets or unused lockers. Like a parasite, she moved through the halls unknown to her victims until it was too late. When she stood in front of a door labeled ‘Main Office” her form was of a gold stallion wearing combat armor. Opening the doors she was greeted with an office that was transformed into a makeshift bedroom, a bed and cabin sitting behind a desk with a rough-looking pony behind it.

“Ah, stonewall come in. Have a seat, we have much to discuss.” Lacunae took up a chair in front of the desk as the blood-red stallion shifted through papers. “The White Herd have been catching wise to our raids locations. I need you to tell the foals downstairs I've drawn up new routes for them.”

“Actually boss I need to talk to you about a message we got.” The boss perked up at that. “We’ve received a message from an anonymous source that wishes to speak with you.”

The rugged stallion leaned back in his chair, his one good eye looking his subordinate over. “Well don’t keep me in the dark, what do they want?” He leaned forward.

Lacunae cleared her throat, and with the softest voice that only a mother putting her foal to sleep said. “The White Herd sends their regards.” With blinding speed she magically lifted a silencer from her hoster, putting four bullets into the shocked stallion’s head. He went limp, his body falling back into the chair.

His fake form died revealing the deadly alicorn it sheltered. With a soft smile, she stared back at the camera in the room, bowing her head like an actor's fine performance. “I hope my skills are up to the future partner's interests.”

The video ended there, I still don’t know how she knew she was being filmed but it made Lacunae even more of a force to be reckoned with. “Lacunae has the magical power of 50 unicorns.” An image of the alicorn lifting an entire old pre-war train caused some in the audience to gasp in disbelief. “She is quite possibly the most powerful alicorn to exist since the Princesses.” Images of Lacunae wielding several weapons in her magic were shown one after another, each displaying the Alicorn’s deadly marksmanship. “She can be a tank that rolls through your enemies or a knife that slits your foe's throats when they least expect it. You will not find another pony with her level of skill, take my word for it.”

The next image on the screen was a pony that was the star of the show, my main face of my growing business. “I present Blackjack, the Security mare, The hero of the Hoof, Slayer of Deus 'Ex Machina, the third rate Reaper, and the leader of the Demon Mares.” She stood on two legs like a Minotaur, her limbs were a smooth black metal with white cracks between the joints. She carried two pistols, one a 12.7mm and the other a 45 caliber revolver in talons that extended from her forehooves. Dark blue barding covered most of her body with the number 99 was printed on her with a little white filly symbol printed under it. All this was in stark contrast to her pure white coat that emphasized her facial features more, particularly her glowing red eyes.

“Some of you are already familiar with this mare, or rather heard many stories of her. Let me show you how gracious she actually is.” A video played next, one where a large group of typical wasteland raider ponies circled a makeshift outpost in various vehicles. The raiders took potshots at the old buses the outpost called walls, the defenders answering back from the cover of rusted wagons and boxcars.

“Raiders attacking a little settlement for the crime of not paying their protection money. Not unheard of in the wastes, the weak being exploited by the strong. However, we here at Crusader.INC seek to correct that.”

In the distance of the valley where the outpost sat, huge dust clouds followed in the form of a speeding shadow. Its form became that of a cyber pony riding a silver motorcycle with three symbols painted on it, a filly, a reaper pony, and the number 99.

Some of the raiders took notice of the approaching challenger and four of them drove out to meet her. A wagon turned into a tank followed by three motorcycles began opening fire on the cyber pony, a minigun atop the wagon spraying a storm of bullets.

With speed and grace, she dodged the incoming fire, meeting their greeting with one of her own. Unloading with the 12.7 pistol her shots hit with scary accuracy into their target’s necks, downing two of the motorcycles and sending the last crashing into the wagon. The wagon veered off course losing its minigun to the side but kept moving.

The wagon and the cyber pony sped towards each other with the intent to kill, neither slowing down as the distance between them closed in. Then just as they were about to collide the cyber pony lowered her whole body on the cycle then sled the motorcycle on its side. Sliding under the vehicle she attached a box-shaped device under its hall before scratching at its bows with her talons. As She came out the other side a trail of fluids followed the wagon. The vehicle swung around for another go but before it could make the turn a fireball consumed it in an explosion.

Wiping some of the fluids off her, the cyber pony turned her attention back to the rest of the Raiders. Hitting a button on the motorcycle’s panel, two compartments on the side open. In one was the disassembly of a very bucky rifle, and the other an assortment of barrels.

The cyber mare got to work assembling the weapon, within a minute she had a rifle that looked like what all rifles grew up to be.

“Some of you may have seen this model but for those unfamiliar, this is a Party Stopper assault rifle, a 50. call an automatic rifle with explosive bullets. Well, to call them bullets is an understatement. They’ve enhanced to seek a target for a short distance then explode once inside, making them more mini-missiles.”

That got their attention even more than what Blackjack was doing. “These were in the prototype stages before the world ended and only a few were produced. However, due to the production capabilities of this city, we can arm and outfit our mares with such tech.” They ate that part up like foals hearing about a candy store, these people were already signing the contract in their heads. “Of course such tech is also open to our business partners, contractors, and subsidiaries.”

Back on screen, Blackjack was showing what that ‘prototype’ could do. Driving to meet her new targets she held the rifle in one claw, letting the weapon of war roar to life. Every shot sounded like thunder and the impacts felt the same. Raiders were torn apart as their vehicles exploded or caught fire. Quickly taking their full attention away from the outpost the raiders decided to attack the cyber mare in force.

Twenty in all versus one mare, it was a fair fight. The jet black visor of the cyber mare’s helmet glowed, the dashboard lighting with the same hue. She pulled out the 12.7 mm pistol in her remaining talon, the sound of the pistol joining it’s rifle brother all while the cycle drove itself.

“What the fuck!” I looked over at the crowd to see some in complete awe.

“Remote-controlled motorcycle. Another restored technology brought by Crusaders.INC.”

And what a technology it was, Blackjack ran circles around them all while delivering death. One by one raiders fell, crushed, burning, or being torn apart Until finally, only one wagon stood. One on one, cyber mare against battlewagon, the tank of a vehicle race toward her ready to ram her. She met their determination with her own, like before neither broke off their coming crash.

A yard away from each other the motorcycle jolted forth, leaching the cyber pony into the air. Throwing aside her rifle and holstering her pistol, she pulled out a sword and dropped like a needle from the sky. Stabbing into the roof of the wagon like a knife into butter she grabbed a metal apple from around her waist, she pulled its pin then moved over to the driver’s side of the vehicle smashing the window in and tossing in a gift for the wagon occupants.

grabbing her sword, she leaped from the wagon as it exploded from the inside. Hitting the ground but doing a roll she flipped on her legs. Holstering her sword the cyber mare looked over the carnage around her before shrugging, walking off towards the outpost.

The ponies watching from the safety of the outpost’s walls didn’t know what to make of the mare. She had saved them but she was terrifying in her own right. A bullet found its way into the dirt in front of her, an old stallion in a duster.

“Not a step closer or we blast ya’.” The cocking of several guns backed up that point. “Now tell us who you are?”

“Calm down, calm down. I was hired by your boss to save you.” With both talons she grabbed the helmet that adored her head, lifting it to reveal the face of a young mare with glowing red eyes underneath. “My name’s Blackjack, and I'm here to save you.”

The projector finally shut off, I took my place at the center of the stage, the crowd in deep discussion with each other over my little presentation. I could hear their whisper ‘Those mares are like nothing I ever saw’ ‘did you see the tech they used?’ ‘I don’t think any merc will be worth half the price of those mares.’ All the things I wanted to hear, then the bidding started. Everybody in the room couldn’t wait anymore to have a piece of our pie.

“I tell you my services are nothing but high quality. Whether it be newly produced arms or the deadly strength of the Demon Mares, you can always expect professional effort in our business.”

And like on cue that idiot arrived through the door. “Hey Charity can I have like a few thousand caps, I kind of broke my motorcycle.”

All eyes in the room fell on Blackjack who was grinning like a fool, her mannerism that of a foal that got caught doing something wrong. “Whyyyy?” I did my best to keep my professional manner in front of the meeting. “Why is it broken?”

She looked side to side, blushing as she folded her thumbs. “Well, you see I was performing a maintenance run on it.” She was fucking around. “When I decide to take it for a test drive.” She wanted to do tricks. “When I hit a bump and was sent flying.” She tried to jump the ramp again didn’t she? “I’m okay Charity falling isn’t a problem for me, but eh, my motorcycle, like, smashed into a wall.”

My left eye began to twitch before I yelled. “BLACKJACK!”

Episode 1: The Hoof

Episode 1: The Hoof

By Numbername

“The world is yours”_NAS

The winds of the Wasteland blew harshly over the broken remnants of civilization, 200-year-old ruins sat quietly after the world was consumed in balefire, but now they became the battleground for the wars of the new age.

Fire and smoke filled the bare landscape of the badlands as two small armies clashed. One the tribes of the Hoof, various warrior ponies and creatures of different creeds united to defend their home from the scum of the Wasteland, a horde of Raiders. Violent tribes born of the Wastes who used their strength to crush all who opposed them.

Both sides fought with a brutality not seen since the world ended. suicide raiders rushed gun lines with bombs strapped around them, sacrificing themselves so their allies could advance. Warriors tore raiders limb from limb with ease when the raiders got into the ruins they used as cover. Griffin mercenaries from both sides flew through the sky like birds of prey, picking targets off while shooting or clawing at each other. Raiders road motorcycles and carriages repurpose for battle around the defenses of the warriors, taking shots wherever they saw an opening.

It was a bloody stalemate that had continued for days with no end in sight. It seemed like both sides would bleed each other dry rather than bend the knee.

That was until they came.

A flash appeared over the battlefield freezing the combatants in their tracks. As the light dimmed and died standing in the middle of the battlefield, enclosed in a magical field was three mares. A light blue Alicorn wearing a black dress, a striped mare encased in dense spiked armor, and a two-leg cybermare sitting atop a motorcycle looking at the world behind a biker helmet.

“Rampage break center, Lacunae take the skies.” The bike’s engine roared to life as the Cybermare gave her last command. “Cleanse this scum.” With that the Cybermare sped out of the field towards the pack of motorcycles and carriages, the Alicorn took to the skies, and the striped mare rushed to the mass of the raiders lines.

The raiders fired upon the stampeding striped mare, their bullets harmlessly bouncing off her armor, the mare barely paying them any mind. Some of the raiders tried to flee in vain, but that was stopped when the striped mare leaped into the air with a grace that seemed wrong with the armor she wore, and landed in the middle of the raiders' lines, crushing a raider mare under her hooves. They were on her in seconds, but this didn’t worry the striped mare. With speed and finesse, she slash and crushed all those who dared approach her. Some caught wise and tried to break into smaller groups to shoot her, some tried throwing explosives. None of this would save them as she became a hurricane of death, charging through her would-be attackers like a knife through butter. With ease she smashed raider faces or chests in, her hoof claws easily slashed through straps of metal they called armor, and her bucks sent raiders flying in pieces.

The skies above were a similar yet more graceful scene. The Alicorn encased herself in a magical bubble as she battled the griffins in the skies. Griffins working for the raiders almost ignored their rival brothers, focusing all their fire on the new threat they saw. But their bullets were ineffective against her shield as they were on the stripe mare’s armor. Two 10mm pistols floated beside her, every shot she made being a perfect hit to the head. Any Griffin that closed the distance between them and her was met with a bolt of lightning that sent them falling to the ground. Her flyer allies became little more than support as she hunted her foes like a predator.

The Cybermare drove through the battlefield like a grim reaper. Picking off raiders on their bikes with her 12.7mm pistol in one talon, and a .45 caliber revolver in the other, her bike seemingly driving itself. Some tried to fight back, spraying bullets at the cyber monster but she moved as if she predicted them. Like the Alicorn above every shot was a kill, no raider made it near her before being dropped. When she attacked the large battle-carriages she would slide under them, slapping a circular device to their bellies in an instant, a few minutes after that they would explode.

The bloody stalemate that seemed endless was turned around within a few minutes. The Raiders began being pushed back further and further by just three mares. The Warriors of the Hoof seeing their chance, pushed the attack, rushing from their defenses now the attackers. They showed the raiders the fate of those who threaten the Hoof as every raider and merc was cut down to the last mare.

Within an hour, the battle was over, the warriors stood above the dead of their former foes, cheering and celebrating their big victory. Many took pieces of their enemy as trophies, proof of their valor.

From a ledge overlooking the battlefield, the three mares stood watching their comrades joy. “Goddesses was that a workload.” The Cybermare cleaned her guns while sitting on her bike, a happy yet tired expression written on her face. “These big jobs are a pain in the flank. I love defending ponies but fighting dozens of raiders is lots of work.” She looked to her two friends who seemed to be less fatigued than her, which made her jealous. “Say what’s for lunch?”

“Well, I was hoping we could stop at the Society to get some fine dining in.” The Alicorn added. “Victories like this require such rewards.”

The striped mare nayed at that. “Yeah, and when you get that thousand cap bill for some high-class pretentious ass food will that make up for it?” The Alicorn chuckled at that, not finding her friend’s mocking in bad faith at all. “I’ll make our food, no need to waste a cap.”

“I say whoever got the most kills gets to decide.” The Cybermare pointed a claw out to the battlefield. “Considering we know who fought where it shouldn’t be that hard to round up a total.”

The striped mare stomped her hoof in agreement, jumping off the ledge and galloping off to the raider's former lines. The Cybermare followed suit with her bike, driving to the graveyard of former riders. The Alicorn just shook her head. “Oh, how Equestria has changed. From the land of Friendship and unity to one where even the good ponies find joy in death. But the will of the Elements brings changes like that.” With that, she spread her wings and took to the air to join her friends

The Demon Mares.

Lunch break is that special heavenly time of day for workers to forget their labor and enjoy some food made with care. And for the Demon Mares, it was the best time of the day.

Blackjack and Lacunae sat around a table in the VIP dining room, the former biting into a metal-filled cake while the latter picked away at carrots and greens. Rampage was in the kitchen, using various stoves that once hosted multi-talented chefs to cook meals only the Demon Mares really could enjoy.

The dining room itself was once a party room for Equestria’s high society, various business types and government officials would meet here to socialize or make deals. Now it was simply a place for the girls to relax.

“Oh my, how my old bones need this after a long morning.” Lacunae bit into a carrot with all the joy in the world.

“Lacunae you don’t age.” Blackjack interjected

“This Wasteland makes me feel like I aged 20 years every time I step outside the door! Raiders, slavers, other mutants, my Sisters, the ignorance of Wastelanders make the last 40 years of my life feel like 500. But it’s all worth being around Arloste's cooking.” Lacunae took the last bite of her meal before magically lifting the plate for another round. “Another head chef.”

“Coming up!” The Zony shouted from the kitchen.

While the Alicorn waited, a certain thing she said got caught in Blackjack’s mind. Mostly about the world outside. “Say Lacunae.” The Alicorn’s cat-like eyes turned to her student with a questioning gaze. “Do you think we’re making a difference?”

That was a difficult question to answer, the Wasteland had no end to threats for them to fight. endless hordes of gangs or raider tribes dotted the world, the mutated beasts that roamed the land, the endless warring between factions that put them up against even good ponies could drain the soul. “Like yeah we helped the Hoof retake some lost land from those Highlander bastards, but it seems for every problem we stop another comes up. Are we actually changing things? We beat Dawn and her cult, yet we aren’t making sweeping changes across the Hoof.” Blackjack was now just playing with her food as she was lost in thought.

Lacunae could only give an answer that was borne of centuries of wisdom and pondering. “Yes and no.” That just confused the Cybermare who was expecting a more definite answer. “The scars of the great war run deep Blackjack. For two centuries the Elements of chaos, conflict, and death have ruled the land unopposed. The only way to fix the world is to either fix it slowly but surely as we have or.” Lacunae leaned in to make sure Blackjack was listening. “We become no better than Dawn and we try to force the Elements of Harmony, life, and order onto the Wasteland as conquerors.”

That made Blackjack's stomach tighten up a bit, being compared in any way like Dawn made her almost snare in anger. “No, I don’t.” She replied harshly.

“Then we must keep building the world up slowly through our efforts. Only by helping others help themselves can we truly bring back the old Equestria.” Rampage trotted up with a cart full of meals, Lacunae floating a few plates to her side. “We use our power to guide, not to rule.”

“Yeah Jack, as a milf I spank the badness of the Wasteland I don’t add to it.” Rampage took a seat between her old friend and new one. Biting like a shark into a plate of prime cooked burgers. “Besides, we got time to change the world. Ain’t no big threats to fight yet, Dawn and her harbingers are gone, Lacunae’s mutant mom isn’t bothering us. We got time to take it slow.”

Blackjack sighed as she tried to turn her mind back to eating. “Well, maybe we could do more, help out in smaller jobs to improve life for ponies.”

“If that’s what you want then do I have the best job for you.” Charity trotted into the dining room dress in her custom made business suit, the yellow filly looking tired from endless business deals. “I have a bunch of runs to make around the Hoof this evening. My sister's towns, the Reapers, and the Society. While I’m busy I want you to take jobs from the locals, helping them out brings in some money, and most importantly boosts our image.” She took the last seat at the table making it a complete set, pointing to a plate of treats that Rampage passed her.

“See it as a bunch of side quests.”

Megamart, one of four centers of trade in the Hoof run by the daughters of Finders Keepers. Founded around an old Mart, traders made their home in tents either in the surrounding area or in the building itself, selling wares from around the Wasteland and beyond.

Blackjack wandered from tent to tent, talking with some of the vendors she knew or buying from others. She and her friends had split up with Charity talking to her sister about business, Rampage shopping, and Lacunae searching for work with Blackjack. As the Cybermare traveled alongside her teacher she couldn’t ignore the strange looks she was getting from some ponies. It wasn’t unusual to get a stare here or there, but she hoped ponies would have gotten used to her by now.

“There are a lot of onlookers today huh?” Some seemed to trot away the minute the pair passed by them, while others pretended to go about their business. Blackjack had long stopped caring about it but still, this much discommunication can still bother any pony.

“Hm?” Lacunae paid the gazes of the ponies little mind, for her decades of eyes filled with fear or wonder simply grew numb after a while. “Oh them? Megamart has seen quite a lot of outside traffic recently. Apparently, our cleaning the raiders out along the roads has made travel to the Hoof a lot easier.”

The Cybermare started to see it, the look of the ponies in the market today looked different than the regular Hoofington pony. They wore different outfits, some looked dirtier than others, some were the opposite. Some bore symbols of a faction they were from, their home, or beliefs. The Cybermare quickly understood why she was getting looks.

“All these ponies are here because of us?”

Lacunae saw this as the perfect time to teach her student a lesson. “Yes, see Blackjack to influence the world positively you can not force it. You must change things on a smaller scale to push the world forward. Remember we guide, not conquer.”

The Cybermare simply nodded to that as the two came upon a wall that used to be part of a bus. Flyers for various job offerings were posted everywhere. Everything from repair work to straight assassination jobs was here. It almost made Blackjack a little nostalgic for her old days in the Wasteland when she was a ‘soft hooves’ as the locals called it.

“So we need a job that helps out in a small yet impactful way.” The Cybermare scanned the flyers like a hawk, rolling her eyes at requests like ‘kill ten of this or bring me this.’ “Nothing seems impactful here though.”

“Actually, there is.” Lacunae’s horn lit up as a piece of paper was ripped from the wall, floating it over to Blackjack; the Alicorn seemed overjoyed at what she found. “This is the perfect job for you Blackjack.”

The Cybermare didn’t get it. It was just a job to clear out bugs a few miles away. “I think that’s a little beneath us Lacunae.”

The alicorn nayed, rolling up the paper and giving her student a joyous look. “This is more than just cleaning out bugs, Blackjack.” She leaned in close with a wicked smile that made Blackjack’s heart sink. “It’s training.”

Radbeetles were one of the many 'beautiful' creations of the Wasteland. Mutated by the mother of all mutations in the Wasteland, Taint, these once cute little creatures were now the size of a full-grown pony. Some were harmless, others were monsters from your worst nightmare. The ones Blackjack and Lacunae had to deal with were definitely the latter.

The pair stood on a hill overlooking a river where the bugs called home. There was a bridge crossing but the mutants had colonized the underside as their home with a lot of them swarming the place. They looked ugly like a fusion of a bee and a violent dog. Blackjack wondered why they hadn’t been cleared out, now she understood, it would take a team of ponies with flame throwers to burn these things away.

“So you want to just clear them out? With magic?” When Lacunae said this would be perfect training she hoped that meant target practice, not this. “Lacunae, I can’t do this!” Blackjack pointed a talon at the bridge the bugs were nested under. “Even before I lost my horn I wasn’t good with this stuff. What do you want me to do? teleport them away?”

Lacunae gave her student a sage-like smile. “No, I want you to speak to them, ask them to leave.”

“What?! How?”

“Connect to the Elements Blackjack. Listen to how they move throughout the world and use it to connect to the creatures.” Lacunae made it sound so simple, yet for Blackjack, it was like being told rocket science. “Do what I have taught you. Clear your mind and simply listen. Now go to them.”

“Sometimes Luu Luu your worst than my old teacher.” Blackjack gave her a loud sigh before walking down the hillside, closing her eyes she slowly approached the river bank. A few of the beetles notice her but kept away from the Cybermare, sizing her up as a threat. “This is a bad idea, I’m leaving myself open.”

quiet, listen to the Elements. Put all your thoughts aside, focus on the flow of the world. Words echoed through Blackjack’s head as a voice carried in the wind. She tried to center herself, tried to focus, but as she heard the rustling of the bugs below, fear started to creep into her mind. Calm yourself, these creatures are not hostile unless you provoke them.

“This is stupid. I can see more of them crawling towards me in my EFS Lacunae. All it takes is one getting angry.” Blackjack was gripping her two pistols nervously, ready to draw at the slightest sound. “I could just pick them off, I don’t have to go through all of this.”

Without this training Blackjack, you will never regain your magic.

“I don’t need it anymore, I have these upgrades now. I’m more deadlier now than ever. I could kill these things easily.” The Cybermare’s boasts were more ego than reality.

Your upgrades are a tool but not your true power, let go of your fear of these creatures and connect to them.

As the sounds of bugs built up, Blackjack’s hold on her guns grew tighter and tighter. “I can’t do this.” The sounds of the bugs got louder and louder until it sounded like a swarm was approaching. “They're going to attack me.” It sounded like an ocean of moving creatures were on her. “I’m gonna die!”

She opened her eyes ready to fire at the first beetle she saw only to see none of them were near her. They were all moving down the river as if something was telling them to. Turning around, Blackjack was shocked to see Lacunae standing right next to her, the Alicorn’s eyes closed as she focused on her task.

When the last beetle was out of sight, the Alicorn just looked down at her student. She was disappointed but understanding of her failure. “I think this test was too much for your level.”

Blackjack felt a little ashamed but played it down. “You think? Next time let’s practice on like a cat or something.” Blackjack looked down the river where the bugs went before turning back to her teacher with a burning question. “Lacunae, why did you take this job?” Blackjack rarely questioned Lacunae’s methods, they usually worked, but this time it seemed nonsensical at best.

“To teach you how the Elements shape our world and how you can listen to them. Those bugs were changing the environment around here by nesting on this river, preventing any other creature from coming here. By Clearing them out you allow the movement of various life around the area. Travelers can now come and go, other animals can live here too. Slowly but surely you changed the flow of the Elements in the Wasteland by doing this, but I wanted you to do this without force but by connecting to them. Force is good sure, but guiding is better.”

The Alicorn turned to leave, giving her student much to maul over as she followed. “Now come, I’m sure Charity is done talking to her sister."

Blackjack took one look down the river again before muttering. “Yeah, maybe you got a point.”

Steel met Steel as ponies fought in the ring, divided up into sections by barbed wire fences, every pony and creature had their own single opponent. Fighting each other with whatever they crafted for themselves the warriors of the arena fought with vicious valor that few could match. Crowds of the warriors' tribes cheering them on from the stands that surrounded the ring. This was the home where ponies became the best of the best, a Reaper. An Order of warriors made up of the best the Hoof has to offer, pitted against one another to rise up the rank of the 100th deadliest Reapers.

And sitting in the stands cheering them all on was the number 2. “Hell to yeah baby! Come on Shining Blade, show them what you're made of!” Rampage stomped her hooves and shouted at everyone and no one at the same time with the excitement of a mother at the big game. “Dropkick them Iron Claw. I know you can do it!” She pointed to a griffin with an eye patch who flew out of the way of a rushing stallion, then doing a dive bomb dropkick. “I knew you could do it!”

The griffin smiled at her and waved as his name was announced over the intercom. “And Iron Claw advances to rank 45!” A large flock of rough looking griffins in combat armor clapped and whistled for their comrades' success. He waved at them before turning to Rampage’s stand and giving her a thumbs up.

“You did it baby! You earned that rank!” Rampage stomped hard enough to crack the bench under her forcing Lacunae to jump a bit.

“My Arslote, you sure are a proud mother.”

“Gotta be Luu Luu, my babies need to know that I’m cheering them on! Good Shit Shining!” She yelled as the orange mare knocked out her opponent with a spin kick. “God I love the Arena. We picked a good day to come, I get to see my little Reapers grow, and a free show.” She said after taking a bite of cooked gecko meat. “Food’s been getting better too since trade opened up."

Lacunae couldn’t help but smile at her friend's joy. It was rare to find a pony who still enjoyed life to the fullest the way Arloste did, though that could because the mare simply couldn’t die, nevertheless, the mare often displayed a joy for the world around without the ruggedness of most Wastelanders. Sometimes when Lacunae looked at her it was like seeing a picture of what Equestria used to be.

As a loud horn blasted over the stadium the combatants' ceased fighting, turning their heads to a magical ledger board above the ring, each fighter eagerly waited for their rank to change. “Shining Blade is moved up to 60, Death Grip is down to 71, Iron Claw is up 45, The metal Hoof is down 75!” The announcer kept reading names as ponies either celebrated or took their defeat in stride.

“Wow, what a tryout! Glad we got to make this pit stop today.” The zony took one last bite of her gecko meat before hopping off and proceeding down rapidly emptying benches. “Come on Luu Luu. I need to tell these kids how great they did!”

Lacunae shrugged and followed her, a thought passed through the Alicorn’s mind as they descended to the floors below. One she always had when she looked at the striped mare. You really are your mother Arloste.

The former sports dome turned arena had become home to several thousand ponies and creatures that lived around the stadium in a makeshift city. Homes built out of whatever good building material the inhabitants could find was stacked on top of each other like a strange city of highrise ruins connected to one another with wooden bridges.
Most of the ponies who wandered around here weren’t your regular Wastelanders, they were gang members, tribals, pirates, freebooters, mercenaries, raiders, and warriors all seeking to improve their worth in the arena. They were born of the harsh reality of this era but even they found a loving embrace in the form of their greatest member, Arloste.

Sitting on the steps of the stadium the zony was surrounded by a crowd of people who loved her. Ponies, Griffins, and Sand Dogs all gathered around as she heaped endless praise on the winners of the tournament and encouragement on the losers. “You did good Shining, those martial arts lessons I gave ya have been helping you well. I’m so proud of you!”

The orange mare in leather armor blushed a little at the praise only a mother could give. “Thank you, Miss Arloste.”

Rampage turned her head to the griffin who seemed to sink back at the praise coming his way. “And you Iron Claw, your dodge game has gone pro. Them air game lessons I’ve given ya is paying off.”

“Thank you, Miss Arloste.” The bulky griffin's tone carried a hint of embarrassment that only a loving parent could bring.

“And you Sarp Tail, your blocks are good but you need to learn to parry son.” She spoke to a large stallion beside her.

The stallion that was big enough to crush a pony under his hooves grumble like a child. “It’s unfair Miss Arloste. I’m no good at dodging or parrying.”

"It’s okay big boy.” She trotted over and hugged the giant, lifting him off the ground a bit much to the giant’s welcoming. “I’ll cut some time from work to give you and a lot of the Reapers training sessions.” She put him down and looked over the crowd of Reapers. “I’m so proud of all of you. When I see how far you’ve come and how far you will go it makes me cry a bit.” Rampage fought back a few tears as she gazed at a generation of Reapers she had watched and even raised.

Lacunae stood at the top of the steps, looking over her friend in the center of the crowd. Always looking at everybody as though they were your kids. I guess age does that. Even when you lost your own you never stop caring for others, you are a great mare Arloste. Lacunae's thoughts fell to Blackjack, and how she should give that lost love to her.

Those thoughts were interrupted by a voice that cut through Rampage’s praises and the crowds muttering. “Shuuja Arloste!” The crowd turned their heads to see a herd of Zebras standing at the bottom of the steps. They all wore thick leather armor over a gambeson coat, their appeal was colored a bright red with Zebra stripes painted on. Face cloths and helmets hid their features but one didn’t need to tell that largest in the front was their leader.

“Are you the one they call Rampage?” The leader asked, stepping forward.

Rampage just shrugged and answered. “Yeah, what ya want?”

The leader marched forwards as the crowd of Reapers moved apart to let him pass, not out of fear of him but of the interest of what Rampage would do with him. When he was inches away from her the Zebra looked her over like a hawk watching its prey. “So this is the legend I heard about? I traveled all the way from the Homelands just to see some Zony?” He looked down to his subordinates for confirmation, to which they nodded.

At the mention of the Zebra homelands Rampage let out a sigh. “You need something, buddy? I kind of got things to do today.” Rampage wasn’t in the mood for the usual racial mistreatment she got from a homelands Zebra. Last encounter she had nearly ended in the Zony bucking a fool’s stripes off.

The leader laughed to which Rampage rolled her eyes. “I heard many stories of the rampaging red zony of the Curse City, that she's told to be the strongest Zebra in the world! But now that I lay eyes on her I can see that may have been a lie.” He continued to laugh as the Reapers around him began to get angrier but he paid them no mind.

“Yeah, yeah, how could a stupid half breed be the strongest Zebra, blah, blah, blah. Listen buddy are you here to fight or something? Like what do you want cuz I’m like leaving here in like an hour maybe.” She said with the most uncaring tone she could muster.

The leader gave a grunt before stomping his hoof and pointing threateningly at the Zony. “I cucerire of the Blood legion have traveled far to challenge the Red Menace that killed our leader and shamed us at the battle of FreeTown! I wish to battle you in single combat!” He stomped his hoof so hard it sent a path of cracks down the stone steps.

Rampage looked at him for a minute before answering. “No.”

“What do you mean no?

“No. Mother fucker you heard me! Listen, I ain’t wasting my time fighting you! First of all, I don’t do random challenges anymore, maybe if you came 40 years earlier I would have, but now? fighting people to prove how tough I am is beneath me. I only fight for sports and a job now. Plus.” The zony looked at the very tough as nails Zebra over before shaking her head. “Kid, your out of your league.”

“You dare mock me, coward!” The leader started taking a battle stance while muttering something in Zebra.

Rampage just rolled her eyes at the leader’s attempt to be threatening. Turning away from her, she gestured for the crowd to move as she made her way up to her old Alicorn friend. “Okay Luu Luu, that’s it for today let’s go.”

The leader who was positively fuming at this shouted a battlecry to the heavens. With speed that seemed impossible for a Zebra of his size he galloped up the stairs with the force of an entire Stampede. No Reaper dared stop him, his herd looked on in awe at their greatest warrior, Rampage barely paid him little mind as she talked with Lacunae. When he was just a few steps away he leaped into the air, did a roll, and brought his hindlegs down to deliver a kick that could shatter a pony in one hit.

Rampage grabbed him with her tail before he connected, smashed him into the steps, then threw him into the air. And with one spinning buck sent him flying, over the reapers, over his herd, and onto a pillar at the bottom of the staircase.

All watched the leader fall limp as Rampage turned to her friend. “So anyway Luu Luu did you enjoy the show today?”

Lacunae just shrugged. “It was nice, a little lackluster in finses, but I guess more display of one’s strength what creatures of today like to do.”

“What can I say, everybody, is a show-off these days.” The pair started walking into the building as the crowd left and the Zebras gathered their fallen leader, trying to find a medical assistant fast. “Come on, let's see if Charity is done yet. I want to get to Flank fast to have one of your specialty drinks.”

Flank was paradise in the Wastes. Well, paradise if you liked drugs, liquor, and enough sex to make your junk fall off. The town was created in the former suburbs of Sunnyville. When the end came the inhabitants took shelter in an underground bunker, a Stable. There the ponies came upon labs made for the creation of chemicals and drugs. When the ponies emerged half a century later they became one of the biggest sellers of drugs and drinks in the Hoofington region. However, times got rough as other drug businesses rose up around the Hoof and eventually the ponies had to sell their town over to one of Finders Keepers Daughters, Caprice.

With her talents she expanded the town out of drug sales, turning the town into a haven for pleasure of all types: gambling, prostitution, sporting events, along with drug dens and bars on every corner. Ponies and creatures across the east flock to Flank in drones to get a taste of the town’s joys.

And Charity saw all of her sister’s success pasted on the wall. Pictures of high-class sex workers, stockpiles of drugs, hell the employee of the month was a pony who filmed three pornos. Charity sat waiting in a lone chair, which she wondered was used for something unclean. The filly often wondered how her sister got any work done in there, the room smelled of musk, she guessed the room used to be a storage room by how crept it was.

“With the money she makes you'd think she would get a better office.” Charity grumbled.

Finally, the door hissed open, and in walked the beautiful sight of a peach colored mare with a fine light purple mane. Outside the coat and mane differences, she almost looked like a clone of Charity but older, however, she didn’t carry herself with the same air of professionalism that Charity had. wearing no business of any kind, instead of dressing in an outfit more fitting for a sex worker than a boss.

“Sorry, I’m late. Just needed to take care of some ‘personal’ business.” Caprice purred as she circled the desk and took her seat.

Charity grunted in frustration but kept her more angry thoughts to herself. “Sis, I’m on a tight schedule today. I don’t have time to wait for your fun time to end.” The filly’s horn lit up and a file floated out of her suit. “You wanted to do business with me so please act like a proper Finder.”

“All right you sweet pea.” Caprice couldn’t help but laugh at her sister’s seriousness. They were a decade apart from each other in age, yet the idea this filly wanted to be treated as an adult just seemed absurd to Caprice. “Let’s get down to business.”

“So you want to become a partner of Crusader.INC. I’m willing to agree to the deal but only if you accept these terms.” Charity floated the file onto the desk which her sister took a read through. The terms were simple, don't be a raider or slaver operation, don’t work with any who do, give half of your profit to Crusader.INC, sell Crusade.INC products, and print the brand name on your things. Caprice almost chuckled at the way the file was presented, it was so formal, written in legal code Caprice barely understood. Most ponies in the Wasteland couldn’t read let alone type deep legal code, it made dealings easy, but when it came to her family they were all pure business.

“My, my you really have thought this out have you hon?” Caprice closed the folder, giving her sister a patient smile that just aggravated the filly. “Look at you all grow up Cheer Cheer.”

“Don’t call me that.” Charity hiss back.

“Calm down Sis, all I’m saying is that you’ve changed a lot since I last saw you. You use to be a little filly with big dreams, always talking to the brothel and dancer girls about being a big shot CEO one day. Now that you are one, look at you, business suit, got mares like Blackjack working for you, and you own the Core.” Caprice just looked at the ceiling as if lost in thought.

“Sis, what the fuck are you rambling about? I thought we were here to talk about business, not about me or what I’ve done.” Charity barked, losing a bit of composure. “If you wanted to have a family heart to heart then we can do it at the next Finder’s BBQ or Heart’s Warming.”

“It’s just I want to ask you why? Why all of this, why take over the Core? Why recruit Blackjack and her friends? Why start this huge business, probably the biggest business since the world ended, and keep your family at arm’s length hon? You're buying up contracts and trade all over the Hoof why?” Caprice’s expression turned from one of welcoming to pondering as she watched her little sister.

Charity thought about it, would she rather explain herself to her sister or force her to get back to business. But she guessed that this question was one that her entire family had for her, so why not answer it so that they all knew the true her.

“Simple, I wanted revenge for everything the Wasteland owes me, for what our Sister and her slavers did to Chapel and the Crusaders, for taking everything I built away from me, for making me run and hide. Now I’m the first CEO in the Wasteland since the world ended. I don’t have to play the cute filly to scan a few travelers into paying more for a bottle of water, I make the heads of powerful groups come to me. The Wasteland doesn’t take from me anymore, I take from it. Slowly but surely I’m buying up this sad landscape until I have businesses in every settlement from here to Los Pegasus. I want the Wasteland to pay back in full, and I'm going to rebuild it until the entire Wasteland is in debt to me.”

Caprice didn’t know how to respond to that answer. It was the answer of a filly who suffered yet rose up to become more than she ever was. she had an ego but who couldn’t when you had the Hoof eating off of your plate.

“I see.” Was the only response Caprice could give to an answer like that. “Well, maybe since your so determined I can help you along. I want this town to become owned by the Crusaders, not just a partner.”

“So your giving up your town?” Charity raised an eyebrow at that, no Finder ever gave up their place of business.

“I will work here as management I guess if you will allow it. To be honest, running the town has never been my strong suit.” Charity expected spending most of her time on her back was her strong suit. “However, I want you to do one thing for this town before I sell it.”

“What?"

“Clear the Sink Hole.”

Lacunae’s bar was probably the only establishment in Flank that wore a sense of class to it. No dirt, no grind, no smell of drugs, with an entire section cleared for smokers. The floors were a clear white, tables were neatly set up, no cracks or damage in any of the building's walls, and a balcony for VIP guests. The establishment enforced a dress code for entrance, making most of the patrons well dressed and kept.

Lacunae herself sat behind the bar in a butler outfit preparing drinks as Rampage and Blackjack played Paper score. “Block this!” Blackjack hit the piece of crushed up paper at her foe, only for Rampage to smack it away.

“Get that shit outta here Jack!” The paper flew over the cyber mare’s head before she could react.

Lacunae just chuckled as she brought their drinks. “That’s 3 points for Arloste.” Rampage did a victory pose as Blackjack grunted. “Now here’s one Blood and Sand, and one Rise and Shine.”

“Thanks, Lacunae.” They both shouted in unison, gulping down their drinks like monsters.

“Fuck that’s what I needed!” whiskey had become Blackjack’s drug ever since she set foot on the surface. When she first tasted it the drink awakened something in her.

“After all that fighting in the morning, a good Blood and Sand is what mama is calling for.” Rampage shook her glass in her hooves like a filly begging for more. “Luu Luu hit me again.”

“Coming right up.” The alicorn obliged her friends, pouring them a series of glasses to satisfy their needs. She didn’t mind though, she loved to serve, it was a part of her since childhood, since she took the path of a druid.

“Say Lacunae, have you ever thought about becoming the owner again?” Rampage asked while sipping on another Blood and Sand. “I mean you turned this place from a drug den into the most classy bar outside Los pegasus. It’s a fruit of your labor Luu Luu it should be yours.”

Lacunae nayed. “It is but that path is closed to me for now.” She grabbed a glass of wine in her magic, taking careful sips as she relaxed. “My life now is teaching Blackjack, working for Charity, and helping you protect the Hoof. This is how it is for now, and I accept that.”

Blackjack just stared at her, the Alicorn just was okay with this. Giving up her bar, being a Demon Mare, it was almost a defeatist mentality. “You take things in stride, Lacunae. Like, don’t you miss this place.”

The Alicorn shrugged as she took another sip of wine. “The world is a constantly changing entity, Blackjack. Under the flow of the Elements, life can give a quiet existence one moment or a chaotic one the next. Like a moving river, you can either go with the flow or fight against the tides. For followers of the Elements, you either accept the changes and adapt, trying to stay the same is a losing battle.”

Blackjack didn’t know if she agreed with that, she got stronger to fight against those that came to her and not accept or adapt to them. “I would try to fight against change like that as much as possible. No fate controls where I end up.”

“Power does not come from beating fate Blackjack, power comes from learning and adapting to it for survival. If you ever wish to master using the Elements you have to embrace this mindset.”

Before the conversation could continue a beeping sound blared from all three mares, Lacunae checked her pocket, Rampage her tail, Blackjack her foreleg, they all looked over devices with the same green text written as ‘Brat calling’. “Looks like the break just got cut short,” Blackjack grumbled.

The Sink Glow was the former ruins of a smaller town right outside Sunnyville. Unlike the other Megaspells this was detonated in an underground station causing the ground to sink in. The good news was all the radiation was only in the sinkhole, the bad news was this made salvager jobs into the deeper ruins as deadly as you could fall into a sinkhole and be killed by the radiation that leaguer in the ground.

The Demon Mares stood on the edge of the Glow, almost five miles long of ruins sinking into a sickly rainbow glowing hole. It would take a whole army of ponies to clear it, this was a job that could take years, except if you didn’t have Lacunae.

“Okay, so boss wants you to move a lot of buildings and rubble out of the hole so that salvagers can pick through them without dying.” There was a hint of worry in Blackjack’s voice as she read the orders. She’d seen Lacunae do great feats before, but this was another level. “Will you be alright, Lacunae?”

Lacunae just smirked at her as if that was a joke. “Oh Blackjack, this is nothing for me. It will take a minute, so if you want to return to the bar I made backup drinks for you and Arloste.”

“But Lacunae, this would take hundreds of unicorns to move! You might burn yourself out or worse!” Blackjack protested. She had seen what magical overload did to unicorns, sometimes you just lost your magic for a few days, other times forever, and in the worst cases, it could put you into a coma.

“Not when you can center yourself, watch and learn.” Before Blackjack could protest any further the Alicorn teleported away in a flash.

She reappeared high above the sinkhole, her wings spread far and wide as she stared down at the ruins. The Alicorn closed her eyes, listened, cleared her mind of everything, and heard the flow of the world. She felt all the Elements: Harmony, chaos, conflict, order, Death, life. She centered herself in all of them, not allowing one to rule her but to be between all of them, so moving with them was like sailing down a river. She was everything, she was nothing, she was dead, she was alive. She didn’t exist, she did exist.

Magic poured from her horn in a violent blue light shining across the sinkhole, her eyes were pure light that burned like the sun. Below her, the remains of buildings and rubble were encased in a blue magical field. The ground began to shake and crack as the sound of the earth moving could be felt for miles. Then the ruins rose once again. Lifted by magic that seemed impossible, the buildings floated into the air before being laid to rest around the hole. Lacunae pulled building after building out like it was as simple as pouring drinks. Blackjack watched in awe as it happened, was that what Lacunae meant by centering yourself, was this the power Lacunae wanted to teach her, would she get her magic back with it?

Charity and Caprice along with all the residents of Flank watched the display from the outskirts of town. The latter was dumbfounded and the former smiled ear to ear before fake coughing to get her sister’s attention. “Do you understand now sis? There’s nothing in this Wasteland me and my mares can’t stand up to. We’re going to be the biggest company in this damn world, and little by little we’re going to change it for the better. We’re the Demon Mares and nothing is going to stop us from reaching our goal. So will you join?”

The Demon Mares all trotted into the living room of the presidential suite with an audible sigh of relief. Lacunae and Rampage went to the couch to catch up on old reality TV, Charity went to her room to sleep, and Blackjack went to the kitchen. Inside was a gray pegasus working over the many stoves, cooking a meal perfectly for her. Her bright purple mane swung as she moved.

“Ho honey what’s for dinner!” The Cybermare shouted, making the pegasus flutter into the air.

“Blackjack dear, don’t scare me like that!” The Pegasus wanted to throw dinner at her lover as she was taking a seat. “Just coming in and saying hello is fine.”

“But then I wouldn’t get to see how cute you get when you flutter.” Blackjack snarked back.

“For that, you're getting nothing tonight.” Glory huffed.

The Cybermare shrugged at the punishment, messing a day or two of sex was worth it seeing her get angrier was cute. Glory laid a plate of what most ponies would call burned cake with lead in it, Blackjack called a five star treat. Glory’s plate on the other hoof was just steamed carrots.

“Seeing those lessons with Rampage helped you a lot Glory.” When Blackjack took a bite into the round disk of overly baked bread it sounded like wood tearing apart. “This is good!”

“Yeah Arloste’s been a big help, never thought cooking would be this fun!” As the Pegasus watched her wife chew down on the hardened bread disk shaped treat, she had only one question for her. “So how was your day?”

Blackjack stopped mid bite before pondering that. “Well, it was a long day of side trips. Boring things like fighting raiders and all, but.” The Cybermare thought of Lacunae’s words from the morning. “I think we’re making a change, not quickly but little by little, we’re helping ponies get better. Sure it’s slow but you can’t force change or you become another monster in the Wastes, you have to go with the flow and change the world steadily.”

“Wow Blackjack that sounds very wise coming from you.”

Blackjack just leaned back on her chair and her body fully relaxed for the first time that day. “Nope, I just got a good teacher.”

FIN-------------------

Episode 2: The Pinks

New Horizons

Episode 1: The Pinks

“You ain’t a clown, you the whole damn circuses”

Amusement parks were a joy of the old world, an entire small community made to do nothing but bring fun and joy to ponies. Roller Coasters for thrills, games for testing skills, and bumper cars for jills. So it was only right that the Wasteland took such a fun place and twists it into a fucked up mirror image of itself.

What was once a place for families to gather and enjoy their weekends, where lovers found each other, where dreams came true, became a nightmare. The worst scum of the Wasteland had found its ruins, repurposing it into their little fun park from hell. Bumper cars that were once used for playful fun became a twisted version of themselves with ponies tied to the front of the karts with spikes placed on their stomachs. Raiders cheered and laughed as their friends rammed the karts into each other, impaling the pony on the front again and again. One stallion, unfortunately, survived the rams to scream in pain after each hit.

The shooting gallery became target practice for the raiders, dead bodies tied to targets, raiders bringing their guns and ammo for the extra fun. Those who landed headshots got prizes.

And to top it off the rollercoaster that had long fallen into ruin became host to hanged ponies. Their body swung back and forth in the wind as birds picked at them. At the front of this nightmare land was a sign, Pinkie Pie’s house of fun and smiles! It read under the image of a Pink mare with puffy hair, her face forever gasping happily at new arrivals.

One of the ponies in a cage huffed as they were pulled through the front gate. They were a mix of ponies from all walks of life, raiders, scavengers, mercs. All brought here to be the main event. They were dragged through the land of horrors until they reached their final destination, a large tent that sat in the heart of the madness. colored in a pink striped pattern with flags in it made the tent look inviting a bit, a bit.

The cage was dragged into the tent, revealing to its occupants the sounds and noise of the circus. Raider ponies in clown makeup perform tricks on tripwire, a mare wearing an eyepatch fed ponies heads to a Radbear in a cage. Ponies cheered and stomped from beaches at every incident, creating a wave throughout the whole tent.

But the star of the show for which every pony’s attention was mostly on was the mare sitting in the center. She was pale pink with a purplish mane, sky blue eyes, with a pure white suit and top hat. She was the spitting image of the mare that was pasted on every sign in the park, Pinkie Pie.

“ARE YOU READY EVERY PONY FOR THE MAIN EVENT!” She shouted into a microphone to the cheers of hundreds of raider ponies. “I SAID ARE YOU READY FOR THE MAIN EVENT!” A rhythmic ‘yes’ roared from the crowd. “THEN THIS GET THIS PARTY ON THE ROAD!” She pointed to the cage as it was brought next to her. “TONIGHT WE’RE HAVING SPECIAL, PONY FIRED OUT OF A CANNON!” She pointed to three light blue cannons pointed toward a wooden target that stood at the other end of the tent, spikes covering most of it except the middle. “THE OBJECTIVE FOR OUR LITTLE PONIES IS TO SURVIVED BEING FIRED OUT THESE HERE CANNONS, IF THEY HIT THE BULLSEYE WE LET THEM GO, IF NOT WELL THAN TARGET IS GOING TO HAVE SOME NICE DECORATIONS.”

The cage door was open, the ponies dragged out in a line by the chains connected to their hooves. Pinkie looked them over, hoof swinging back and forth between them. “LET’S SEE HERE, ANY, MINY, MIGHTY, MOLE. YOU!” She pointed to a red mare with a scar on her neck. “YOUR IT!”

“Wait, I want to join your gang. I can be useful, I’m a good sniper.” She protested as the raider clown unhooked her chains from the rest. “You don’t gotta do this!”

“OH EVERY PONY WE GOT A CRY BABY OVER HERE!” that got the whole circus laughing and egging her to do it. “LET’S SEE HOW MUCH SHE CRIES FLYING THROUGH THE AIR!”

“You pink cunt! You won’t get away with this! You hear me!” She hurled insult after insult as she was pulled off. She fought as they loaded her into the canon with one clown having to bite her to shove her in. “You're all going to die, you hear me! My boss will send a raiding party and kill all of you! Your heads will be put on spikes, you hear me bitch!”

“YOU HEAR THAT EVERY PONY, SHE WANTS TO GET IMPALED. NOW THAT’S DEDICATION TO ENTERTAINING THE CROWD.” Pinkie barrel rolled over to the cannon’s ignition sting and pulled it like a mad mare. “WELL LET’S GIVE HER WHAT SHE WANTS FOLKS!”

With a loud boom the red mare was sent flying through the air towards the target, screaming all the way. She landed with a spat against the floor. “OH DAMN FOLKS, MY BAD SEEMS MY AIM IS OFF! GUESS THAT DASH I DID BEFORE THE SHOW GOT ME A LITTLE DIZZY.” She fane dizziness while her eyes rolled around in circles, the crowd ate it up with many saying ‘oh Pinkie’.

For her cruelty she was a good entertainer. The raiders laugh and cheered at all of her antics as she fired more ponies from the cannons, when she accidentally fired one pony through the tent itself, she quickly turned it into a joke about cannons being shitty guns. That got the crowd roaring so loud you could hear it a mile away. She was a true fusion of a Raider warlord and the star clown of the show.

“WELL FOLKS LOOKS LIKE THE EVENT’S WHINING DOWN. WE HAVE ONE LAST PONY LEFT FOR OUR MAIN PERFORMANCE.'' She pointed to the last pony in chains, an orange stallion who overshadowed most with muscles that looked like they had taken drugs since childhood and never stopped. “I’M NOT EVEN SURE HOW WE CAN FIT THIS GUY INTO THE CANNON, SOME PONY CALL BLOODY KNIFE IN THE KITCHEN. TELL HER WE NEED BUTTER.” Even Pinkie laughed a little at that joke.

She laughed so much she actually fell over. The giant stallion took this as his chance to strike. “It’s good your last words were a joke. You will die with a smile on your face.” He pulled on his chains with such force they snapped like sticks. He quickly spun around bucking the raider clown to his left, cracking his skull in as the raider was sent flying. He quickly rushed towards the other clown who was dealing with chains, reared up, and dropped his forehooves with force smashing her head into paste, sounds of bones crushing as blood and brain matter oozed out.

With speed that seemed wrong for a stallion of his size, he galloped towards the still laughing Pinkie, jumped, and landed with all fours on the mare, crushing her with a loud ‘SPAT’ sound. The crowd stopped laughing, their cheers replaced with horror. It all happened so fast, one minute she was the life of the party, next she was blood and guts on some pony’s hooves.

Or at least she was at first. When the stallion looked over his hooves he noticed something was off, the usual gore his charges created wasn’t there, instead it was a weird white sustenance. “What the fuck?”

“NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT A FEW CREAM PIES FOLKS” Pinkie’s voice boomed over the tent, making the stallion look around in complete confusion. He had landed on her, he was sure of it. “RIGHT HERE JACKASS.” A tap on his back made him buck back, only for his kick to connect with a brick wall. He turned to see the red wall behind him, where did it come from? Why? Another tap and to get a face of cream pie. “CREAMPIE TO THE FACE, YOU NEVER BEAT THE CLASSICS FOLKS!”

Wiping the cream from his face the stallion shouted at the top of his lugs. “Face me you Pink Cunt!” His eyes fell on her standing a few feet away. Grinding smugly while holding the microphone in her forehooves.

“WELL FOLKS, SEEM LIKE OUR PERFORMANCE HAS CHANGED FROM CANNONS TO BLOODY COMBAT. AS AN ENTERTAINER IT’S MY DUTY TO GIVE THE PONIES WHAT THEY WANT.” The stallion charged her as she spoke, only for her to leap and land on his back.

They started playing pony roadeo with the stallion fighting hard to knock the mare off him. Pinkie wrapped one forehoof around his neck as she pulled a cow pony hat from nowhere.”Yeee Haw! Give me up my little pony!”

Finally, the stallion decided to fall on his back, hoping that would crush her. Only to land on the same pile of cream pies with no Pinkie there. Getting to his hooves he saw her a yard away, shaking her ass at him. “SOME PONY’S INTO ROUGH PLAY FOLKS.” He screamed a warcry and galloped again towards her. Only for her easily dodge his attack, he tried swinging his hoof at her but she was a pro at dodging and weaving.

Not one buck or swing connected, it was like she could read his movements, like she knew what would happen before he did anything. After a minute he was tired but she was still full of energy, it was like their fight was just play time to her. “WELL FOLKS, IT’S TIME WE CLOSED OUT THE EVEN WITH A BANG! WHAT YOU DO SAY WE GIVE IT UP FOR OUR PERFORMER TONIGHT!” The crowd cheered on the performance with the shouts ‘Big Bang’ emphasis with every stomp. “THE PONIES HAVE SPOKEN!”

Pinkie put the microphone into her suit, then reached into her hair and pulled out a long pink RPG with the icon of a pie painted on it’s barrel. “It’s time for our bloody show closer.” The stallion, knowing he had no chance against her, tried to make a break for the exit. But it was too late.

With a loud boom and followed with a screaming hiss, a pink rocket flew towards the stallion. Slamming into him with a heavy impact, blowing him to shearing chucks of a pony, guts and meat flying everywhere in a spray of party gore.

Pinkie held the smoking cannon to her side, kissing it before pulling the mic out again. “WELL FOLKS THAT’S TONIGHT’S SHOW. REMEMBER DRINKS ARE SERVED UNTIL 11, AND STANDS CLOSE DOWN WITHIN AN HOUR. GET YOUR PRIZE FOR YOUR SPECIAL SOME PONY BEFORE!” With that the crowds began to cycle out of the tent, Pinkie watched with a smile knowing she did her job perfectly that day.

“Now time for the after party.”

The strap-on rammed into the light blue mare’s bottom, making her squeal in pleasure. She was given no time to recover as her lover brought it out, then slammed right back in with a quick thrust. She moaned like a cat in heat as her lover treated her like a doll. All around ponies were having at it like animals, having sex on tables, the floor, against the wall. Nobody cared just as long as the love was happening.

Pinkie was no different. She stood on her hind legs as she rhythmic thrust into her second in command’s waiting flower. They stood atop a heart-shaped bed with a stand of drugs sitting off to the side, Pinkie held the eye-patched mare in place by her tail as she used her mouth to reach over and eat a pill ever so often. “So Bloody, how does our project look?” She said chewing a pill.

The black eye-patched mare moaned as she read over a map. “We, oh, we found the MOM hub mistress, ah, all the information, ah, we gathered points to the Hoof being the place they hid it. Ahhhh!” With her last moan, she fell onto the papers, her juices coating the bed. “I’m sorry mistress, I couldn’t control myself.”

Pinkie leaned atop the mare, kissing her on the cheek. “No harm done, Okie Dokie. You did a lot of hard work to bring my plans to fruition. You deserve to loosen up, smile my pretty pony.” Pinkie looked over the map and blueprints to a weird device that looked like a projector. “Now we just need test ponies, the Hoof has no lack of good bodies.”

Blackjack stood in the fancy scene of a high-class apartment. A couch and chairs were set facing a fireplace at the center of the room, a small kitchen with several cabinets and a rainbow fridge overlooked already prepared food sat to the far right of Dawn. Stairs lead to a balcony that overlooked the living room below.

In front of her was a grey pegasus in a black jumpsuit. Her eyes looked closed yet Blackjack knew she was staring at her, a kind mother smile beaming from her. The pegasus fiddled with her dark purple mane as they stood. “Must we do this Blackjack?” she said in a sweet voice.

“Yes” was the Cyber Mare’s reply.

“Fine then.” Her eyes opened quickly, the purple pupils turning from a light hue to a violet glow. The black jumpsuit that surrounded her body tore as talons spring forth from her hooves, her limbs extended ripping cloth revealing black metal plates underneath that glowed a sickly green in a hexagon pattern. Her wings became sharp spikes spreading out further and further until the mare became an almost nightmarish version of an angel pony. The motherly smile she kept on her face became a disturbing grin as she looked towards the Cyber Mare.

Blackjack pulled out her star sword with her talons as they both rushed each other. Their clash sent sparks flying as metal on metal met, a dance of death played out with every movement a counter. Blackjack tried to jab, the pegasus swatted it away. The pegasus tried to slash with her wings, Blackjack blocked it with her hooves. They moved like blurs as they fought, a normal creature wouldn't be able to see their movements.

The pegasus tried to go for the head, only for Blackjack to duck and sweep her hind legs from her under her. Quickly seeing her opening, Blackjack leaped onto the pegasus wings pinning her to the ground. She brought her sword up ready to bring the killing blow. “DIE!”

As she swung the sword down a sharp pain broke out in her stomach, sending shock throughout her body. She dropped the sword to the side, looking down to see the pegasus’s talons embedded into her stomach. “You're a fool, Blackjack, and fools get smithed.”

The pegasus rip the guts from Blackjack’s stomach, the cyber mare falling limp to the ground. As the word faded away all she could was the pegasus mocking her. “Your like a mad dog Blackjack, mad, crazy, feral, and I’m making it my job to put you down."

Blackjack’s eyes jolted open in shock, breathing heavily as she looked around. Her senses coming back to her as she saw the familiar sight of training equipment, and the look of a very disappointed Alicorn. “Cap for your thoughts?”

Blackjack looked down at her legs, she saw the remains of her test, A disassemble gun. She hadn’t even lifted it let alone put it together. She looked back to Lacunae expecting the Alicorn’s disapproval but instead saw understanding. “Lacunae I don’t think this shaman stuff is for me, I’ve tried again and again but magic isn’t easy without a horn.”

Lacunae sighed, walking over and placing a hoof on her student’s shoulders. “Failure is a part of the learning process, Blackjack. To truly hear the flow of the universe, to unlock your magic again takes time.”

Blackjack sighed and got up from cross position, she gave her mentor the best ‘I’m sorry’, the same look she gave her mother when her grades slipped or she fucked a job in security. “I’ve tired Lacunae but I’m just not you. You studied and learned all this spiritual nonsense since you were a filly, then you got better at it when you became an Alicorn. I didn’t know this type of magic existed until four years ago.” Blackjack looked away from her in defeat. “Besides, I don’t need my magic or the universal flow stuff.” Blackjack flexed her forearms in a way to emphasize her cybernetics. “I’m the Daemonium et Stellas! I already have all the power I need. Don’t need any more.

“Oh Blackjack.” Lacunae did what every teacher did to their students when they fell behind, tell them why. “Your cybernetics make you threatening, but they are just wires and metal. True strength comes from the self and one's connection to the elements, not those false machines. To truly regain your magic you must connect yourself to the flow of Elements, and the only way to do that is to let go.”

Blackjack looked at her confused. “Let go?”

“Of your fears, of your desires, of wants, of hates. Most importantly your hate of Dawn.” That got a glare from Blackjack, that was a sore subject she didn’t want to hear. “Oh yes, I saw her in your dream. I know what you feel, she is dead Blackjack, we killed her.”

“Glory killed her.”

“Doesn’t it matter? We got the justice you wanted and stopped her plans, what more do you want?” Lacunae could feel Blackjack’s anger rising. After everything Dawn did to her Lacunae hoped her student would move on from this but it still haunted her like a dark cloud. “Do you wish to hunt every Harbinger? kill every member of her herd? Why are you still angry at her?”

Blackjack looked away a bit in shame. “I should have been the one to beat her Lacunae.”

That got the loudest groaned Lacunae could manage. “Blackjack, that is the viewpoint of a foal. Your holding a grudge against a dead mare! She is gone Blackjack, don’t turn losing to her into an obsession!” Lacunae shook her head. “This isn’t about Dawn is it? it's about not being able to protect Chapel, about the ponies she took from you, about P-21?” She could feel the regret in her student. the guilt she felt in answering that, and hate at their former enemy for it.

“I couldn’t protect them. I should have.” Was the only response the cyber mare could muster.

Both of them just stood silent for a minute, not knowing how to follow up that conversation. It took the arrival of a certain red striped zony to break the ice. “Yo lunch is ready!”

As her chance to drop the cold subject, Lacunae gave her student some advice. “You have to learn to let go Blackjack, or like a poison, it will consume you. We will continue training another time.” With that the Alicorn walked off to greet her long-time friend, leaving her student to her thoughts.
‘
They both looked at Rampage as she pushed a cart with several food items on it. “Got bored and decided to cook dinner early.” Rampage hung her head high, taking full pride in her work. “Decided today would be meat and veggies day so I went all out.” She pointed a hoof at the top shelf. “Radhog burgers, fried geck legs, and stuffed meat.” She lowered herself to the bottom. “Down here we got veggies for the high-class snob Lacunae. Steamed carrots, fresh daisies, and apple slices. All newly grown in the garden for that fresh taste.”

“Snobby? Is it so hard for a pony to get her veggies in this day and age?” The alicorn gave her friend a smug yet friendly smile as she trotted over, lifting a few daisies up with her magic.

Rampage nayed. “Bitch you know how long it took to grow all this shit, ‘getting your veggies this day and age.’ Lacunae your ass should be happy. I went through the trouble to find some seeds, beg Charity to make a greenhouse, then wasted hours of my day growing these bitches.” There was no malice in her voice, just a chuckle while she jabbed at her friend. “You should be eating like the rest of us. Get with the times' girl, get some damn meat on them bones.”

“Sorry Arloste, I’m a decent pony, my diet doesn't consist of dead animals. I like to remain a healthy pony.”

“Bitch you don’t need to eat! You only eat cuz you like it!” They were both laughing now, this was always the good barter they had, “‘I want to be a healthy pony.’ Being healthy for you is drinking radiation waste! Get that snob shit outta here.”

They both burst out laughing as they took their plates. “Come on Luu, time to finish watching Mares in Rainbow Hills.”

“That’s going to have to wait Arloste.” The yellow filly they called 'boss' was standing in the door, wearing a newly made suit that looked a bit big for her. Charity looked like a filly playing adult, but when she meant business the Demon Mares listen. “Lacunae, I need you for a special assignment but it’s your ears only.”

Lacunae sighed in polite annoyance as she sat the daisy she was about to eat down on the kart. “No rest for the wicked it seems. Keep a plate for me Arloste, I expect this will be a long job.” Lacunae looked at her student, she had a lot to learn but the Alicorn just couldn't. “Blackjack, remember what I've told you today. If you ever wish to complete your training you must forget her.” Was the Alicorn's parting words as she left the room with the filly.

“I’ll try.”

“You talking to me? I’m sorry I didn’t know you were talking to me?” The Zebra said to a mean looking griffon in a jacket. “Cuz I don’t think you were talking to me?”

“I don’t see any other stripes around here bud.” The griffon replied. “You hear me. You think you can walk into my town, start shit, and I wouldn’t have a problem with it. Get your striped ass outta my town before I make you into a coat.”

The Zebra chuckled as he turned away, crouched, then launched a kick towards the griffon. The hawk blocked it with his arm then scratched at the zebra which the striped equine dodged easily. The two engaged in a game of dodging each other's strikes while trying to counter.

“Oh damn! Mendi wasn’t playing in this movie.” Rampage clapped as she rocked back and forth in joy.

“Maybe I should copy that move!” Blackjack took another sip from the whiskey bottle in her talons. Both mares sat on an old couch watching a TV that hung from the wall, a newly created model thanks to Crusader.INC recently taken factories.

They sat watching the tv in one of the old government’s VIP rooms, well less a room more a clubhouse. It was large enough to hold a party with a huge marvel pillar in the center. A bar sat at one end of the room and a lodge on the other, one wall was all newly made windows giving a pony a good view of the core, the heart of the pre-war industry.

“Hey, can we watch Hooves of Fury after this? I want to look over Mendi’s moves in that movie.” Blackjack said after another sip of her drink.

Rampage grabbed a leg from the kart on the side of the couch, biting into it with her sharp teeth. “Sure, you watch whatever until Luu gets back, then it’s me and her time okay?”

The cyber mare shrugged. “Fine. Besides, I need time to practice the moves.”

Rampage looked the cyber pony over, she had been more serious about training in the last few months than even when they left for the Zebra wasteland. “You alright Jack?”

“Huh?” Blackjack stared at her in confusion.

“I mean you've been putting a lot of work on yourself.” Rampage tried to hide her worry in her voice, wanting to come off more friendly about the topic. “I know the jobs keep coming and you don’t want to get rusty Jack, but make sure to just take a break once in a while.”

"I don’t need a break Rampage, I’m fine.” The cyber mare was playfully blowing off the idea. “Just need to stay in tip-top shape you know. Just need to be ready for anything that comes my way!”

“With all this training it seems like your preparing for something.”

“Nah, I’m just looking to be the best Demon Mare that’s all. Still need to beat you in a fight.” Another dodge at Rampage’s questions, the striped mare finally decided she needed to be honest

Rampage stared at her friend for a moment before saying quietly. “It’s about the fight with Dawn huh?”

Blackjack laughed but there was a strain in her tone. “What no it’s-”

“I heard your talk with Lacunae, Blackjack.” She cut off the cyber mare before she could answer. “Heard everything, about you still holding a grudge against Dawn. Still feeling sorry for what happened to Chapel?” For all her crudeness Rampage knew when to play friend and when to play mom. “Child, you don’t have to blame yourself for what happened. Chapel was my home too, I built the damn place remember?”

Blackjack tensed up, clearly, she wasn’t suspecting the subject to come up again. “It’s just.” She sighed. “Everything I went through, everything I trained for, everything I gave up was so I could finally get revenge for everyone.” Her grip on the whiskey bottle tightened, cracking it a bit. “I was big bad Security, hero of the Hoof, but couldn’t protect my friends when they needed me. I couldn’t even avenge them correctly.”

The striped mare approached her friend, placing a welcoming hoof around her. “ We did kid, we stopped Dawn. She wasn’t just your enemy Blackjack, she was all of ours and we beat her. We all swore to defeat Dawn and the Harbingers together, remember?”

The cyber mare pushed her friend away, a little hurt showing on her face. “But you didn’t have to become this Rampage.” She pointed to her cybernetic body, moving her talons from her chest to her limbs to emphasize the point. “You didn’t have to gut your body so you could have a chance of beating her. I became this cyber freak so I could bring down the pony who robbed me of everything. I didn't want to be a cripple mare waiting on the sidelines while you and Lacunae did everything, and took away what was rightfully mine.”

The cyber mare’s tone was tip with anger, she finally let out a rage that had been building inside for a while. She didn’t know who to point her angry at, who deserved this rant. she tried to do what she does best ‘don’t think about it', but clearly, that didn’t work by the seething Rampage was starting to see from her friend. “She took everything away from me Rampage, my new home, my family, my horn, killed my husband, kidnapped my wife! So yes I feel a bit pissed that I didn’t get to gut the bitch!”

Rampage backed up a bit, she knew when she struck a sore spot. But she also knew the words to say. “Blackjack, do you know why I swore to take down Dawn and the Harbingers?”

Blackjack just took another sip of her whiskey as she looked away. “Because your husband died like mine.”

“No, on some level I knew my husband would die one day. In fact, I always knew most ponies I met outside of Lacunae would die before me. In the Wasteland, most good things don’t last long, and I’d built a gallery of ponies over the decades who had it in for me.” She turned completely to her friend, a look of complete honesty she rarely showed to anyone. “Me and Lacunae swore to take down the Harbingers because they hurt ponies and people because what they wanted was horrible for the entire wasteland because they needed to be brought some type of justice and we were the mares for the job. It wasn’t about pure hate, it was about stopping ponies whose goals did nothing but hurt others.”

The cyber mare wasn’t looking at her but she hung on every word her striped friend said. “Blackjack to this day there’s only been one mare I swore revenge against, out of all the ponies that wronged me only one, and she’s buried. I’ve moved on, I found life after that, you can’t make revenge into an obsession, that’s not a healthy way to live.”

They both waited for a minute until Blackjack groaned. “Fine, I will take it easy on myself.” She met the glowing pink eyes of her striped friend. “I’ll try okay. You know you sound like my mom sometimes.”

“Good! Didn’t spend 30 years raising kids to not know how to set them straight.” Like that Rampage was back to her usual rough yet cheerful self, the quick switch made Blackjack smile a bit. “Still got the touch, old milf Arloste is still here.”

“Well, let's see if you can put that touch to another use.” They turned to the back of the room to see the form of their filly boss staring at them. “Pack your things, I have a big job for both of you.” Charity grinned at them. “Termination.”

The vault cracked open with a stretching sound, revealing the sight of boxes upon boxes stacked on each other. All were labeled with the symbol of three balloons surrounding a symbol of Pinkie Pie. "Property of the Ministry of Morale, Celestia class access only.”

“Mom always did know how to hide all the goodies from every pony.” Stepping into the room and surveying it like a filly in a candy shop, Pinkie Pie hopped from box to box, shaking them hoping to find out what’s inside. “All the best-confiscated goodies of pre-war Equestria, all brought to you by the Ministry of Morale and mama.”

The pink mare hopped from box to box opening them and throwing out their containments like it was Heart’s Warming. As she picked through the boxes another pony entered the room, wearing full iron armor with an iron face mask and helmet, her eyes glowing violent purple through a black visor. “Mistress, we have secured the building. Should we start setting up the testing area?” Her voice was a robotic static wave, her iron hooves creating a clunking sound with every step.

“Yuppie, the sooner the better. The Hoof has a lot of gangs and groups who won’t like a few out of towners causing trouble in their neck of the woods. Especially three little freak mares.” She said as she shook box after box. She stopped when one made a clicking sound. “Found it!” Opening the box up and driving into its bubble wrap, Pinkie emerged with a strange looking projector.

It was colored pinked with stickers of Cupcakes and smiles on it. The lens was shaped more like a telescope than a projector. Pinkie hugged it like it was her favorite toy, even kissing it a few times. “Yesie! I hope the Wasteland’s ready! Cause I’m about to start the biggest party ever!”

Pinkie looked to her subordinate with an evil smile. “Get the ponies rounded up Bloody, it’s time for a test run.”

The wagon sped through the ruins of the former town, occasionally dodging leftover debris or the remains of skycrates as it drove across the crumbling road. Rampage kept her hooves firmly on the wheel, her eyes locked on the path in front of her. Blackjack on other hand was checking her pistols, loading ammo magazines into her belt, and looking over her cyber limbs just in case.

“You didn’t have to come Rampage, I could handle this alone.” Blackjack said as she cocked her 12.7 pistol. “Just a few raiders, I can handle a little hostage situation.”

Rampage nayed but kept her eyes on the road. “I ain’t got anything better to do anyway. This could be a good workout for me.” She passed a worried glance toward her cyber friend. “Besides, I need to make sure your in the right headspace girl.”

Blackjack waved it off as she tapped her eyes, making the hud change with every tap. “I’m fine Rampage, just was a little worked up from training that’s all. This nothing the daemonium de stella can’t handle.”

The striped mare grimaced a bit but kept her reply about ‘worked up’ to herself. “Just keep a clean head okay?”

“Okay.” the cyber mare shrugged. “My E.F.S is picking red bars up ahead.” She smiled wickedly to her striped friend. “Ready to get medieval on them?”

“Zeeb you know it.”

The Ministry of Morale was Equestria’s government branch created to keep morale high during the darkest days of the war. Its founder, one Pinkie Pie, sought to make sure every pony was smiling and cheerful even when the world seemed bleak. It was with that motto that the government ministry held parties and celebrations whenever they could, opened theme parks and arcades across the nation, and threw the most swinging dances for soldiers returning from battle. It was a branch of the government the average citizen had the most contact with and wanted to.

It was also under this ‘SMILE’ motto that even the hubs and offices were places of fun and celebrations. Arcades, dance floor, party rooms, and candy shops filled what one would think was an office building. And the raiders took to these facilities like foals. The lobby of the building was filled with still functional arcade machines and drug dispensers which the raiders gladly used.

“That’s the good stuff!” A mare wearing patched together armor painted like a clown outfit stood behind the front desk, jabbed a needle into her leg. “Mistress Pinkie sure knows how to pick the best raiding locations huh?”

A buck wearing clown’s hair to her side was eating pills of different shapes and sizes like candy off a kart. “I hope she throws another orgy, I could use a good fucking with this stash.”

“If this big project she has plan goes well she might throw a party for the whole week. Maybe even adult party week!” She jabbed another needle into her leg as the look of pleasure filled her face. “God I hope mistress Pinkie draws my number after this, I want her to plow my ramp so fucking bad!”

Her companion just laughed. “Dude my number came up last week, let me tell you.” He stomped to emphasize his point. “Best. Fuck. Of. My. Life! That ass is great! All that sugar she be eating makes her a freak!”

“Our gang made the right choice joining Pinkie’s army. She’s the fucking best warlord I’ve seen.” Thoughts of Pinkie’s ass danced in the mare’s head as she took another needle.

“I will take Dash to that.” They both clapped their hooves together in agreement. Then their heads exploded into a shower of gore and brain matter making the other raiders in the room jump. Looking around for the attacker all eyes fell on a striped zony wearing dense spiked armor standing in the broken glass double doors.

“Having a drug party eh? Well that me add to the fun.” She galloped with blinding speed towards a sea blue mare who was holding an inhaler in her hooves. The poor fool only had a second before the striped zony was on her, shoving her left hoof claw into the drug pony’s stomach and tearing out her guts in one blow.

The raiders didn’t waste time on being shocked, they started breaking out their artillery. soon the room became a shooting gallery and the zony their target. Most shots bounced harmlessly off her armor, but a few struck true, only for the striped mare to laugh as the bullets healed with a pinkish glow.

She rushed towards two raiders firing from behind an over turned table. Flipping into the air and landing with all fours on one raider before wrapping her razor wire tail around the other, and throwing him into the wall on the other side of the room.

The raiders desperately tried to retreat, galloping away from the striped death machine towards a stairwell leading to an upper balcony. The first pony to reach the stairs was impaled by an unseen force making his friends stop in their tracks. As the pony fell limp to the ground another raider was slashed across his neck, next one had her eyes pushed in. The last two raiders tried to flee from whatever force was killing them, only galloping into the death zony they were formerly running from.

With a buck she sent both of them into the air, bones could be heard breaking as one crashed into a marvel pillar and the other into a glass window. Energy cracked around a vaguely two leg figure until it formed into Blackjack holding a sword. “I love the ram and dagger movemer”

As she cleaned her prize weapons she looked up at the floors above. The lobby stood in the center plaza of the building with elevators and stairwells leading up several stories high, at the top was a glass ceiling done in the shape of Pinkie Pie’s face. “E.F.S picking up red bars on the seventh floor along with a lot of green.” Having cybernetic eyes came with lots of benefits, mostly builtin spells that tracked living creatures and their intent.

“How do we go about this?” Rampage asked while removing bits of gore off her hoof claws.

“Same tactic. Take the elevator, that will get their attention faster.” Blackjack pointed to a pink elevator to the side of the stairwell. “Ram and dagger until we find the hostages.” They nodded to each other as they put their plan into motion, checking their weapons and trotting along their way.

Five raiders surrounded the elevator door with SMGs ready to tear a pony to pieces. It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop, the only sound being the rising elevator and ‘ding’ when it reached a floor below. As the light showing the elevator’s ascend got closer to the seventh a look of nervousness started to show on the raiders, sweat visabling running down them.

When the ‘ding’ of the door reaching the seventh floor sounded, the doors open to showers of bullets. The raiders turned that entrance into a killing zone as they unleashed everything they had. Their bullets smashed into the dense armor of the striped zony as she casually trotted out of the elevator, yawning as she boredly walked. Her attackers, clearly catching on to the fruitlessness of their actions, gave up and fled down the pink hall.

Their pathetic attempt at fleeing was met with well placed headshots, dropping them like flies. Blackjack appeared in the doorway of the elevator, hanging upside down with two smoking pistols in her talons. Dropping down to the marvel floor, she reloaded while looking side to side. “Area clear, it doesn't seem like there were that many raiders here.”

“The client said these guys just kidnapped a bunch of ponies at random and drag them here, the question is why?” Rampage looked from body to body, scanning their armor for symbols as to who was behind this. “These guys look like clowns more than Raiders, why would they hold up here of all places?”

“Drugs? MOM places usually have left over drug labs.”

“Yeah but this still has active security, that’s why no pony has looted the place since the bombs fell. How did these saps get past the turrets and robots?” Rampage’s glowing eyes fell on the symbol of three party balloons painted on one of the raider’s armor. “Isn’t that the symbol of the MOM? Are these guys like Pinkie Pie fans or something?”

Blackjack started walking down the hall towards double doors with the same three balloons painted on them. “Hostages are down here. My mane’s been itching since we got here, this shit screams trap.”

“And our plan?” The striped mare said following close behind her.

“Spring it, see who's behind this, free the captives, capture the boss if needed.” Standing before the double doors, the cyber mare gave a violent kick that smashed them inward. Stepping into the godlied sight of a large opera styled theatre, several rows of seats led downward until reaching a stage with a projector screen pulled out. Sitting in the front was a gathering of ponies who sat unmoving watching a grimy film, images of peaceful or cheerful ponies were sliced inbetween ones of violence and sex with film cutting every few seconds. “What the fuck?” was Blackjack's only response as she trotted down the stairs. When she reached the front row they looked over the ponies to see they wore random outfit fitting of your common wasteland, their eyes completely glued to the screen. “The captives?”

“LOOK WHO ARRIVED JUST IN TIME FOR THE SHOW!” The static voice blasted across the theatre, making the cyber mare and armored zony jump. “YOU WHO, UP HERE YOU SILLY WILLY!”

It didn’t take long to spot their kind host, sitting up in the projector boot was Pinkie Pie, hind legs crossed, swinging her white hat in one hoof and holding a microphone in the other. “Pinkie Pie? The fuck?” both mares said in complete confusion

“YEP! THE ONE AND ONLY PIE HAS COME TO THE HOOF TO GIVE YOU ALL A SPECIAL SURPRISE! A FRONT ROW SEAT TO THE BEST PARTY EQUESTRIA'S SEEN SINCE THE FUCKING WORLD BLEW UP!” Pinkie tossed the hat back onto her head as she brought the mic closer to her muzzle. “I HEARD A LOT ABOUT YOU DEMON MARES. I KNEW A CERTAIN SOMEPONY WOULD SEND YOU AFTER ME SINCE SHE’S TOO SCARED TO DO IT HERSELF! SO I PREPARED A LITTLE PRANK FOR YOU.”

Blackjack quickly unloaded at the booth, breaking the window but seeing no pony there. “What the? My E.F.S is showing no bars for her. It’s like she disappeared.” The cyber mare’s eyes darted back and forth searching for any signs of the pink pony. “I should be able to pick her up in a 50 yard radius.”

“Stealth buck? Stealth cloak?”

Blackjack shook her head. “No, she disappeared the second I shot at her. It’s like she teleported.”

With a cracking static Pinkie Pie’s voice returned to greet her guests. “OH, HOW RUDE! I WENT THROUGH ALL THE TROUBLE FOR SETTING THIS UP FOR YOU AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME! YOUR SOME NO GOOD PONIES, I THINK I SHOULD SHOW WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN TO NO GOOD PONIES AROUND THE WASTELAND.” A loud snap played over the intercom. “MY LITTLE PONIES GET THE DEMON MARES!”

The green bars that symbolized non-hostile targets became a wall of red in the mare’s vision. Quickly snapping back to the captives she saw them rising from their seats and moving towards the Demon Mares. “Rampage, friendly's have become hostile! Fight to detain! Disarm!” The cyber mare holstered her guns, taking a defensive battle stance she leaned back on her hind legs, talons open palm formation.

Rampage jumped out the way of an old stallion trying to charge her, hitting him with the back of her hoof claws to put him out of commission. “Damn it, taking these things off during a fight is a pain. Hold them off for me.” Blackjack nodded as the zony galloped to the opposite seat row.

Several ponies launch themselves towards the cyber mare. all they received was a series of kicks and punches that either sent them crashing into the others or falling down the steps. Three ponies tried jumping her but the cyber mare leaped over them at the last moment. Using her attacker’s head as a springboard as she flipped through the air landing in a seat behind her attackers. “Hey, asswipes! You want me, I'm right here!” Using her talons she did the ‘come and get me’ motion.

All the brainwash wastelanders obliged, rushing the mare on all sides, some getting on the chairs and trying to jump her. A thin unicorn mare in a duster jumped her, only to get a spin kick for her efforts. A fat green buck tried ramming her from the side, blackjack dodge grabbing the stallion by the tail and throwing him two rolls of seats down. An earth pony mare in a lower roll pulled out a pistol, aiming towards the cyber mare. Blackjack jumped before she fired, flipping through the air and drop-kicking the mare out. “Come on! How do you expect to beat me!”

The fight continued for a minute with the cyber pony dodging, countering, and jumping across the seats. Pinkie Pie seeing her brainwashed followers weren’t holding decided it was time to go. “HATE TO LEAVE EARLY, BUT I GOT THE PARTY OF THE CENTURY TO PLAN. SEE YOU FILLIES LATER!” with that the static cut out.

“Celestia damn! She’s getting away!” Blackjack huffed as she tossed a fat mare into another ale. “Rampage are you done yet!”

Just as a buckley stallion was about to belly flop onto Blackjack he was kicked two rows of seats down by the armorless form of Rampage. “You called?” She stood on hind legs atop a seat, forehooves on her hips as she smiled smugly. A pony tried attacking her but she didn’t even spare him a glance as she back hoofed him across the entire room. “Need help?”

“Yeah! I’m being jumped, the boss is getting away! And we need to knock all these ponies out to see what the fuck is wrong with them!”

“Oh, well go after the boss then.” the zony said uncaringly. “I can handle all these ponies.”

“There’s like 50, Rampage!” Blackjack said, grabbing a pony by the muzzle and slamming them into another.

Rampage looked insulted. “Child listen, I was kicking ass while your mama was a foal I can handle 50 ponies. You go after the Pinkie look alike while mama Rampage cleans up down here.” She held her left hoof towards Blackjack. “Here I’ll give you a boost to go after her.”

Blackjack nodded, leaping from seat to seat until she landed on the zony’s hoof. She then was tossed high across the theatre, landing just short of the projector booth’s broken window, grabbing onto the ledge of the window. “I always forget how scary strong Rampage is.” Blackjack pulled herself through the opening, her hind hooves crushing broken glass behind her. “Now where’d you go, you pink clown.”

As Blackjack ran down a hallway Rampage turned her full attention to the brainwashed masses surrounding her with a happy expression. “Well fillies and colts, I haven’t had my routine half-hour exercise session, and you serve as the perfect replacement. So try to give this Zony a good sweat will you.”

Blackjack ran from hallway to hallway trying to get some lock on the Pinkie look alike. The nonsensical layout and room placement weren’t helping her search either. “Who places a kitchen right next to a meeting room!” She said as she slammed the door in anger.

Through the black visor of the helmet, a bright red hue glowed as the cyber pony looked back and forth. “I should be able to pick her up. Where could she have gone? Think Blackjack, Pinkie Pie was a baker and a party planner from what I’ve heard. Where would she be?” Then her eyes fell on a particularly bright pink sign label ‘Pinkie’s penthouse party floor’. “There we go. Just the right place to hide!”

Finding the penthouse wasn’t a difficult task, the designer of this building had made abundantly clear where it was, marking the halls with giant pink arrows label ‘penthouse’ as if to make sure even a filly could find it. Blackjack came upon two double doors with the Ministry mare herself painted on it. “Geez, Pinkie wasn’t subtle when designing this place.” Blackjack opened the doors into the godliness of the penthouse.

Blackjack had seen pre-war penthouses, she had traversed through enough pre-war office buildings and lived in one to get a general feeling of them. This one blew those out of the water, looking more like a mini indoor theme park than a penthouse. A giant roller coaster twisted all throughout the room with its starting area being near a ball pit. Arcade machines litter the floor, some clearly were worse for wear while others still looked playable. The room hosted a dance floor, a skating ring, and a pool in the corners of the room. A giant balcony could be seen from broken glass windows on the left side of the room. There stood a Griffin Chaser, a pre-war flying vehicle made for carrying squads of soldiers during the war.

“Explains how they got into the Hoof without any pony noticing them. I need to take that out before I find her.”

“Aw, some pony doesn’t want the party to end?” Blackjack stopped in her tracks, looking around the room but still seeing nothing. “I heard stories about you Demon Mares. I thought the name was trying too hard but seeing you up close, well that name makes sense.” Blackjack turned around to come face to face with the white suited Pinkie, leaning on a white cane with her hat tip to the side. “Of course I was one to giggle at the scary things in life, and you don’t scare me that much.”

Blackjack quickly fired off her 12.7mm pistol with frighting speed, only for her shots to miss as Pinkie Pie happily bounced out of the way. Blackjack tried getting a lock on the mare but she hopped from arcade machine to arcade machine.

Blackjack blasted every machine she hopped to, becoming angrier and angrier as the pink joyful pony played with her. “For a Robopony rip off you sure suck at shooting. Maybe you're based on those off-brand rip-offs.” She mocked, from everywhere and nowhere at once.

“Shut up already!” The Cyber Mare shouted as her gun clicked empty. While she tried reloading a kitchen knife flew towards her from behind, dodging to the side of the incoming blade, Blackjack stepped on a plate that sprung her into the air. “What the fuck!” reacting quickly Blackjack flipped around then dove down landing on her hind legs. “What? Did she set up traps around the room?”

That question was quickly answered when Blackjack tripped a wire. Her E.F.S was picking up the spark of a firearm to her right. Blackjack dodged out of the way of a gunshot that came from the screen of an arcade machine. Hitting a plate as she rolled, a sack of grenades rained from the ceiling. Still rolling the cyber mare pushed herself up and leaped away, only to barely make it as the explosion sent her flying into an air hockey machine.

“Oh! Some pony call a doctor, that’s gotta be one big ouchie!” Pinkie Pie laughed from everywhere as blackjack picked herself up.

“Why don’t you come out and fight me, you coward! If you can giggle at the ghosties so much why don’t you come to beat me face to face! Stop acting like a clown and act like a real Raider!” Blackjack upholstered her sword, holding it in both talons as she looked around. “I won’t even use my guns to make it even.”

The room was silent for a minute until Pinkie Pie’s spoke from behind the cyber pony. “Your right!” Blackjack turned around only to get bucked in the face, sending the cyber pony to the ground. Pinkie hopped over to her as the cyber mare pulled herself up. “It's time you learn I don’t simply laugh the scary things in life off. I killed them.” The tone in her voice sounded completely wrong for the mare she looked like, her smile turning deadpan frown.

Blackjack swung at her but the pink pony dodged it with no effort, the cyber mare tried slashing at the pink pony but she seemed to know every move Blackjack would make before she would do it. Every stab, every jab, every swing she either hop, skipped, or jumped out of the way. Finally, Blackjack jumped up and tried to do a downward slash on her, only for Pinkie to just step to the side. “My turn.”

Pinkie bucked the cyber mare in the gut, her armor absorbing the blow but still being staggered back a bit. Pinkie didn’t give her any time to recover, spinning on her right hind leg she delivered a series of spin kicks to the cyber mare’s face making her smash into a ticket machine. When Blackjack tried to counter with a punch which Pinkie ducked under and headbutted Blackjack. The cyber mare tried her damndest to regain her footing but Pinkie wouldn’t let up, bashing the mare over and over again with kicks into the machine until the visor of Blackjack’s helmet broke.

Finally, the cyber mare fell to her knees. The Demon of the stars, the slayer of Deus, the hero of the Hoof, Security. Brought low by an evil party clown. “Was that all you got?” Blackjack tried to shrug off the beating, fanning some bravo as she got to her feet. “You should quit being a raider boss and go join a circus with that athletic shit.” For all her trash talk Blackjack felt the strain from the beating she received, her head ached, one of her eyes was cracked, and a leg needed repair. She felt a little ashamed on some level this stupid looking Pinkie look-alike, was putting her in a corner.

Pinkie pie backed away from her, the smile returning to her face as she took a fighting stance. “Well this was a fun dance we had, but I got things to do, you know. Sorry cyber freak, I'm putting you out now.”

Pinkie rushed faster than the cyber mare could react, barrel rolling into her, hitting Blackjack with each hoof before stopping on her forelegs and bucking Blackjack into the air. Before the cyber mare could land Pinkie rushed under her and kicked her higher into the air, moved to the side, lowered herself, then jumped into the air above Blackjack, and brought down all four hooves into the mare's chest as they crashed down on the marvel floor. Knocking the wind out of the cyber pony as she giggled like a mad filly. “How do you like my Air Balloon Smash? Been working on that one for a while.” Pinkie snarked placing a hoof on the defeated pony’s gut.

Blackjack tried to get up but the strain was too much, only being able to lift her head to spit at her foe. “It ain’t ending like this. I’m not going to lose to you of all ponies.”

Pinkie Pie just giggled at the sad pony. “Your the most fun I’ve had since I woke up. But this show’s getting boring, why don’t you have a little sleepy time.” With a stomp to the head, Blackjack was knocked out cold. “For all the weird things I’ve heard about in this Wasteland, you piqued my interest the most. I don't know what weird comic book experiment you and your friends crawled out from but I want you for my big present to all Equestria.” Pinkie Pie’s deadpan face became an evil smile as she lifted Blackjack onto her back. “Oh, you're going to like what I have in store for you Jack.” Her giggles became a harsh laugh as she carried the cyber mare off.

The clinging of dense metal against marvel echoed throughout the hall as Rampage galloped from door to door, quickly checking each then moving onto the other. “Where are you kid? Don’t tell me you got her already?” A wave of thoughts was flooding the striped mare’s head. She checked room after room. She finished beating the brainwashed ponies into a long sleep half an hour ago, she expected Blackjack to be back soon. When she had taken longer than usual that was a red flag something was off. “Oh Spirits, don’t let anything bad happen to her.”

She fell on a bright sign labeled ‘Penthouse’ that immensely got her attention. “Good place as any to check.” Following the unmissable giant pink arrows, she came upon the sight of double Pinkie Pie painted doors, entering the penthouse the Zony quickly picked up on the smell of smoke and debris that was recent. “She was here alright, Looking at some of these broken machines, some pony had a big fight here, but where are the bodies?”

Then her glowing eyes saw them, a 12.7 pistol and broadsword sitting across the room from each other. Rampage flew into panic mode at that sight, dashing around the room looking for any trace of her friend. “Blackjack! Blackjack, are you here!” She galloped onto the balcony looking around worriedly. “Damn it, Jack, where are you?”

“Your friend isn’t here, sorry to tell you.” Rampage froze as a familiar voice spoke behind her. Quickly turning and taking up a fighting stance, she stopped short of rushing the newcomer when she saw who it was. “Evil Pie took your friend in a Griffon Chaser half an hour ago. They're probably out of the Hoof by now.”

Trotting onto the balcony was Pinkie Pie but it wasn’t. Her voice was a bit deeper. She wore different clothes, a pitch-black stealth suit with various small weapon holsters around a belt. Her coat and mane were deeper pinks than the other Pinkie, and to top it off she lacked the more cheery speaking patterns the other Pinkie had and her mane wasn’t puffed out like cotton candy. “What the fuck?! Who are you?” Rampage’s battle stance didn’t lower but she shifted her gaze as the mare approached her.

“So your one of those famous Demon Mares I heard so much about. Gotta say the rumors don’t disappoint.” The strange Pinkie Pie held out a welcoming hoof that Rampage was hesitant to take. “My name’s serious Pie or Spy Pie depending on what my mom was feeling that day.” She said matter of factly. “Nice to meet you, miss?”

“Arloste Brown, But you can call me Rampage.” She carefully shook Spy Pie’s hoof as she stared at her dumbfounded. “Evil Pie, Spy Pie. What’s going on here?” Was the question of the century.

Spy Pie sighed, a lot of regret in her voice. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get here in time to help you two. I’m the one who hired you, I thought if I had back up I could beat my sister.”

“Sister?” That raised more questions in the Zony.

“It’s more complicated than that, let’s just say we’re copies of Pinkie Pie with different takes. but we probably shouldn’t be waiting around here. We need to get moving if we're going to save your friend and stop Evil Pie from setting her plan into motion.”

Rampage just got more confused. “What plan? Does she want to Brainwash every pony like those ponies down in the theatre?.”

Spy Pie nodded matter of factly. “Yep, it’s the key to her conquest of the entire Wasteland. Creating an army of loyal crazy clown raider ponies.”

The dart punctured the Cyber Mare’s hind, making her well even through the ball gag. “I did it!” The yellowish raider mare shouted as she pulled her blindfold off. “I did it miss Pinkie!” She danced around the lobby floor as Evil Pie watched her from the ticket stand.

“Good going Minty. You get two free stacks of drugs and me tonight.” Evil Pie gleefully pointed at the mare making her heart skip a beat. “Whoever pins a tail on her Cutie Mark gets a free night with me!”

The raiders cheering could be heard all throughout the tent. They had taken to tieing Blackjack up in the lobby of the staff tent, her limbs tied to two poles while they played pin the tail on the cyber pony. The main goal was to pin the tail on her cutie mark with Minty being the only winner so far. “Alright, every pony I think it’s time we end the night with the biggest bang.” All the raiders' attention hung on their queen as she spoke. “Since every pony did really super duper well in the Hoof today, I called a free party week!” Every pony erupted into roars of joy at that announcement. “For giving me my dream I’m turning the whole park into the best adult party we’ve ever had!”

“Pinkie. Pinkie. Pinkie!” They all stomped as the Pink mare trotted into the manager’s office.

Once out of sight she let out a breath of relief, Looking around the mess she called an office. Papers, party items, and drug tablets littered the floor. The makeshift kitchen she had installed hosted a yellowish cake with the engraving ‘to the lucky pony with me tonight’ atop it. Her bed sat behind her desk which looked like a mini version of the room’s floor. A poster of Evil Pie’s creator hung above her bed, Pinkie Pie's happy light blue eyes watched the mare with the word ‘Forever’ under a grinning smile.

“I need to relax after a day like this.” She took a seat behind her desk as she opened up a drawer. The contents inside were a pack of party time mint-ats, a mind-enhancing super drug, a bottle of Applejack daniels, a plastic cup, and a shaker. Putting all four items on the desk, Evil pie got to work creating her favorite drink, Smile liquor. When it was done she took a big gulp of her creation before falling back completely in her chair. “Yipe Yipe that’s the good shit!.” She said slamming the cup back on the desk. “I’m making a whole roll of this when we start our little celebration across the country.”

“You know that stuff is bad for you silly!” A voice giggled like a filly making Evil Pie turned around to face the poster of her creator. Those eyes bore into Evil Pie as if they were watching her, judging every move she made behind a fake smile. “Drugs aren’t good for a big brain silly.” only the poster's mouth moved while everything else remained static.

Evil Pie waved it off as she turned back to her drink. “Leave me alone.”

“I can’t leave one of my clones alone! Especially when they're causing trouble for every pony.” The poster became more and more active as she spoke like she was coming to life. “I may you so you could bring smiles to ponies in their saddest hour. Not kill ponies in mean jokes,”

Evil Pie violently swung around at that. “I am bringing smiles to every pony mom! Unlike you, I’m actually bringing back Equestria’s happy days. I actually have a plan for it!”

The poster just shook its head like a disapproving mother. “Making every pony a brainwashed horse isn’t making any pony happy. Your just creating a world of forced laughter, also that’s what bad ponies do.”

“Oh you mean like spying on every pony like you did mom!” Evil Pie didn’t care if her fans outside heard her shouting, she needed to say this. “Like ripping ponies memories out! Like how you tried to get every pony through the war with fucking parties!” If a poster could look any more disappointed it would probably tear apart. “I came to you with the Dream Land projector telling you we had the best way to win the war and keep every pony happy but you refused! Saying we had already gone too far! Then I bring you proof it could work and you have Spy Pie imprison me!”

Poster Pinkie’s expression turned to something Pinkie Pie wasn’t known for, anger. “You brainwash a bunch of PTSD soldiers then sent them into the field. You brainwashed Zebras and sent them back to their home to commit terrorism. YOU BRAINWASHED A BUNCH OF COLTS AND FILLIES INTO BELIEVING THEIR DEAD PARENTS WEREN’T REAL! Your a horrible no good pony, that’s why renamed you Evil Pie!”

“Fuck off!” Evil turned away from the poster, taking another drink of her creation. “Besides you can’t stop me now. Locking me up was the best thing, I miss the end of the world fireworks. But you did give me a new playground.” Evil Pie smirked at that, feeling like she had won something against her mother.

“Oh I don’t need to stop you, Blackjack will. Or Rampage or Lacunae will definitely stop you.” There was no boasting or exaggerating in Pinkie’s voice like there usually was, it was just the cold hard facts. “I know you can feel it. You got the Pinkie sense like I do. Their the Players and your just another boss to them.”

Evil Pie just nayed. “I know, I don’t stand a chance against them! But that's why they're going to work for me.” Evil grin wickedly knowing the havoc she was going to bring. “I set up that trap of brainwashed ponies to capture one of them. Now that I have cyber freak the other two will show up in no time. Soon I will have the players working for me.”

Poster Pinkie sighed, talking to herself/daughter was like talking to a brick wall too full of itself. “Your sister is coming along with them. The odds are stacked against you, just quit and I’m sure you can go back to being a normal party pony.”

“Pff, Killjoy Pie ain’t got shit on me. I was already funnier than her, smarter than her, and hotter than her. I’m killing her, making her into cupcakes, feeding them to my followers, then using Demon mares to take over the Wasteland.” A knock at the door ended Evil Pie’s rant. “Come in!”

Entering the room was the armored form of Bloody Knife, who bowed at the sight of her mistress. “Mistress Pie the Dream Land projector is set up. We’re waiting for your orders.”

Evil Pie trotted over to pet her favorite minion. “Goodie! Now go tie Miss Cyber Freak up in the comedian tent, keep her bound as much as possible oki doki?” There was a hint of no failures in her words. “Also tell every pony to be ready for an attack in the next few days.”

Bloody nodded with the submissiveness she always showed her goddess. “Got it boss.”

As Bloody was trotting out Pinkie slapped an unprotected part of her rump making the armored mare jump. “If everything goes right tonight we can party like the bombs are dropping again.” Evil Pie could tell the usual cold mare was blushing like a foal under that armor. She didn’t answer back, just galloped off. “Sex and drugs, easies way to make an army of crazies nowadays.” She turned back to the poster smiling. “See you again mom when I rule the world!”

With that Evil Pie trotted out of her tent, whistling a song all Pinkie’s knew very well. Poster Pie just stared at her as she went, just taken back by her clone’s confidence. “I wonder what villain death she’s going to get?” She thought about it hard for a minute. “Yep, Probably falling off the park’s roller coaster, head cut off.” Poster Pinkie shrugged. “She can’t be helped.” And like that she went back to being a stale frame.

“NO!” Blackjack yelled. “I AIN’T YOUR PUPPET YOU PINK CUNT!” The cyber mare fought against her binds shaking the stone pillars that held her in place as the chains bent under her strength. “YOU CAN’T CONTROL ME!” She tried to look away from the projector screen, fighting the strap that kept her head in place.

Evil Pie sighed then looked up at her Clown Raiders, they sat in the back of the tent’s seats with her sitting next to Blackjack in the front. “Every pony get near the tent flap, if she breaks loose again, I will deal with her.” Blackjack had already torn up the room twice and killed several of her Clowns before being stopped. Pinkie started wondering if the cyber pony was worth it but decided she was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

“Come on Blackjack, just relax. Listen to the sound of my voice, let the calming fuzzy thoughts take you.” Pinkie whispered into her ear like a devil. “Relax Blackjack.”

“No.”

“There’s no use in fighting it, just have fun, join the party Blackjack.”

“No.”

“No pony’s coming for you Blackjack, we're your friends now. I’m your friend. You just have to relax and listen to my voice.”

“No!” Blackjack struggled with her binds as Pinkie sighed in frustration.

Clearly, the mare had been trained to resist the power of suggestion, even the strongest soldier Pinkie used this on during the war couldn’t resist, yet this mare was different. “Well, this is a dead end.” Pinkie got out of her seat and trotted up to her followers for a clue on what to do. “Bloody got any bright ideas?”

The armored mare put an iron hoof to her chin in thought. “My mistress, perhaps your going about this all wrong.”

Pinkie laid her head on her forehooves as she listened closely. “Well, I'm all ears Bloody.”

“You're trying to force her to serve you through the power of subtle conviction, she is clearly resisting that.” Pinkie put on her best ‘no shit face’. “Instead of trying to control her through subtle conversion try controlling her through suggestion.”

Pinkie just raised an eyebrow at that. “Huh?”

“Convince her that you're her ally and that you have something she wants. That only you can give her.” Bloody Knife was always the thinker of all of Pinkie’s followers, being the one who always had perfect solutions to an annoying problem.

“Bloody You're an egghead genius!” Pinkie yelled as she hugged the armored mare. “One problem though.” Pinkie pointed a hoof at the bounded cyber pony behind her. “I don’t know anything about that cyber weirdo outside that she eats metal for breakfast and fights like a super Zebra.”

Even through the iron helmet Bloody wore, Pinkie could feel the mare’s smile. “Actually, I do. I'm well versed in Blackjack’s history.” Bloody looked at Blackjack, her eyes narrowing in anger at the cyber pony. “I used to be part of a mercenary group called the Dead Horses. Our group took a job as muscle for a rising religious cult called the Harbingers. They were led by a Pegasus mare named Dawn, a super Cybernetic pony much like our friend here. She wanted to take over the city of Hoofington but this mare and her friends prevented her.” Bloody approached her mistress as if to tell a dire secret. “From the rumors, I heard Dawn burned her town and killed her husband to get a code that was the key to the city. Blackjack was mauled in the fight with Dawn but swore bloody vengeance against her and the Harbingers, so she turned herself into that cyber super pony below. Rumour has it though that she never got her revenge, some pony stole it from her.”

Pinkie looked back at Blackjack, knowing exactly the way to make the cyber mare hers’. “She’s gonna be my little pony now.”

Trotting like a foal to the front row, Pinkie took a seat right next to Blackjack, hind hooves crossed as she leaned into Blackjack’s ear. “Come on Blackjack, you know you want to serve me.”

Blackjack fought the binds again as she tried to move away from Pinkie. “NO!”

“I can give you what you want, Blackjack. Money, sex, fame.” She leaned in close as she spoke the next word. “Dawn.” she whispered malevolently.

“She’s dead, I already beat her.” Blackjack fought to keep the name out, no matter how much the words crawled in her skull Blackjack resisted them.

Pinkie shook her head while chuckling at the mare’s antics. “Silly willy, she’s not dead she’s as full of life as a newly baked pie. My herd told me after you left her for dead some of her followers found her and restored her, just like what happened to you. You went through that trouble!” Pinkie tapped her cybernetic leg. “Got all these fancy gadgets and do hickies but you still couldn’t kill the pony you hate.”

Like a devil on her shoulder Pinkie crafted her lies into half truths that burned into Blackjack’s mind like daggers. Feelings the Cyber Mare fought to keep down begin to surface, feelings of failure, regret, and hate. “You became a freak yet you still couldn’t beat her. You were so weak you couldn’t protect your loved ones, your husband.”

“No.”

“Dawn’s alive and well while everything you loved is burnt to a crisp.”

“You're lying.”

“Am I BJ? You survived with cybernetics, what makes you think she can’t?”

Blackjack knew she was lying, she knew damn it. But then she also knew of ponies restored from death by cybernetics, she had one foe who had come back after being torn apart, Deus. It wasn’t hard for Dawn’s cultist to track her body down, dig her up, and use whatever cybernetics they had leftover to bring her back. But she would know about that, wouldn’t she? Charity had eyes all over the Hoof, she would know if Dawn was back. Charity would tell her, wouldn’t she? Or would Charity keep it to herself, keep her from seeking out the Pegasus that ruined her life. Charity, Rampage, Lacunae didn’t want revenge like Blackjack. Charity wanted to build a new business, Rampage and Lacunae just wanted justice. They didn’t hate Dawn for what she did to them, not like Blackjack.

“She's out there flying free while you're trapped here. You couldn’t beat her for the reason you can’t beat me, you're weak.” Pinkie let that last word sink in.

Weak, Blackjack was weak. She couldn’t beat some Pinkie Pie look alike, she couldn’t beat Dawn, she couldn’t protect the stallion she loved. She called herself the Demon of the Stars to mock Dawn and bring fear to the wicked, yet it was a hollow title. She was supposed to be unstoppable yet look where she was, bound and at the mercy of clowns.

“I’m not weak.” She whispered pathetically.

Pinkie’s chuckle became a harsh laugh. “Of course you are silly, your nothing. Not a Demon, not a hero, your just some freak mare who got really lucky with cybernetics. But look at where they are now, beaten by the clone of a party horse.”

Blackjack tried to close her eyes, to look away from the screen, to block out Pinkie’s words. But the binds kept her in place as Pinkie went on. “You can’t beat Dawn Blackjack, at least not without my help.”

“No..”

“I beat you Blackjack, I can help you defeat her.” Pinkie got closer until her muzzle was inches away from Blackjack’s ear. “I can make you strong Blackjack, I can give you weapons, armor, anything you need to bring her down but you have to listen to me Blackjack.”

The Poisonous words begin breaking through Blackjack’s mental defenses, the little pony in her head being led on a trail of lies. “Yes.”

“You can finally kill her yourself, have the honor of putting her head on a pike! You can display it for all to see.”

“Yes.”

“You can finally avenge your dead husband! Burned town! Every pony that was wronged by her!”

“Yes.”

“You will become a real Demon Mare that all wicked ponies throughout the land fear and respect!”

“YES!” The thoughts of the cyber mare washed away replaced with a single idea. ‘Kill Dawn’.

Blackjack’s eyes transformed from their violent red to a sickly pink as Pinkie stomped in enjoyment. “That’s the spirit! Now your part of the herd we can start getting you ready for the big celebration.” Pinkie nodded to her followers to undo Blackjack’s binds, when the cyber mare was freed she bore the expression of a mare on a mission. “My little Cyber Freak we are going to be good business partners.” Pinkie was interrupted by a small thin raider galloping into the tent out of breath, a look of fear on him as he bumped into Bloody.

“Ms, Ms. Pinkie we’re under attack.” He shouted over the distance of the theatre, barely able to mouth the words.

Pinkie huffed in at another annoyance, clearly everything today wanted to get on her nerves. “Oh? Seems my sister came early than expected." Pinkie looked at Blackjack with an evil smile. "Let's give her a good show in the main tent."

The tent exploded into fire as pieces of burned raiders flew everywhere. Raiders fled from spreading fire as more explosions followed, shouts of panic and confusion came from everywhere at once. From the smoke and flames emerge the forms of Rampage and Spy Pie, the latter of whom wheeled along with a multi-barrel cannon. Grabbing the string of the cannon with her teeth, Spy Pie unleashed a deadly rain of mortar fire down upon the heads of fleeing raiders. Some tried to fight back, returning fire at the duo. Only for Rampage to shield Spy Pie while spraying SMG between cannon shots.

With a barrage of artillery, the already decayed park fell into ruins as fire burned it to ashes. The rollercoaster that surrounded it began falling to pieces from the shock waves of the bombing. “Careful with the shelling you may get Blackjack!” Rampage said, blocking a spray of bullets that bounced off her armor.

“Don’t worry this is to just soften them up before dealing with my sister.” Spy Pie pointed her tail down the road towards the center tent while shooting a raider with bullets. “Your friend is probably in the main tent or near it. Evil Pie likes to keep her favorite toys close, we need to break all her other lesser toys before saving your pal.” Spy Pie pulled the string again making mortars rain down on the Bumper Car area.

“Well then, let’s perform a Burning Buck and light this place up.” The two pushed forward, destroying, burning, killing anything they crossed. Within half an hour half the park was set ablaze, raiders who saw the writing on the wall fled for their lives, those who stay fled to the safety of the center tent. Unfortunately for them, that was the main target.

“I think we gave these clowns quite the show, what you think?.” Rampage looked over their hoof work. The park behind them was completely on fire, the raiders unlucky enough not to escape galloping around burning to death.

“Eh, mom probably would have done better by accident.” Spy Pie shrugged as they trotted up to the center tent flap. “Should have seen the time she burned an office with a Birthday cake.”

As they entered the giant tent they were overshadowed by complete darkness, the only light in the room shined on the form of Evil Pie who sat in a chair alone, her muzzle atop her cane as she smiled welcomely to her new guest.

“Welcome to the main event, Miss Rampage, and Sis. I see you’ve been enjoying the fun and games of my park.” There was a hint of anger in Evil Pie’s voice that made Spy Pie smile a bit. She always knew how to get under her sister’s skin. “I hope your not too tired cuz the show is about to begin.”

“Where’s Blackjack You Trash looking Ghetto Bootleg Version Of Pinkie Pie!” Rampage stomped

“Sis I suggest you quit while your ahead. If you try your little brainwashing party with any other pony else then I’m going to kill you, Sister or not.” Spy Pie barked.

Shaking her head Evil Pie sighed. “You two are big party poopers. You want to eat the cake before we even have a chance to surprise you.” Evil Pie swung her cane around then pointed to her left. “Since your so rushy why don’t I give you the big surprise.”

A light cut on revealing Blackjack, who was sitting with hooves crossed, eyes closed like she was meditating. “I give you the star of the show! Blackjack the Cyber Freak of Death!” As Evil Pie announced to her the lights of the room cut on. Bloody Knife stood to the right of her mistress, her iron armor upgraded with twin miniguns.

Rampage rushed toward her ignoring Spy Pie’s protests. “What have you done to Blackjack!” as the zony approached her she looked over her friend for any signs of injuries. “Kid, are you okay?” Rampage took the cyber mare by the shoulders and shook her. “Come on Jack, talk to me!”

“Oh your friend’s fine, she’s just preparing herself for her first big performance.” Evil Pie said giggling like a mad mare holding a secret.

“What did you do to her!” Rampage took up a charging position ready to launch herself at the evil party horse.

“Nothing. Just gave her some pointers for her big show.” Evil Pie clapped her forehooves with an evil grin. “Blackjack! Dawn has sent her minions here! Kill them!”

Blackjack’s eyes shot open, jumping out of her crossed position she lunged at Rampage with talons drawn. The striped mare dodged her slashes and ducked a spin kick the cyber mare performed. “Blackjack snapped out of it, it’s me Rampage!” she said dodging another kick.

Her words fell on deaf ears as Blackjack pushed her attack. “Every Harbinger, every pony that follows Dawn is going to be torn apart by my TALONS.” Blackjack unholstered a Ripper, a mini chainsaw, from her belt. “I’m going to send your corpse back to your boss as a present for what’s going to happen to her.”

Chainsaw met dense steel as sparks flew with every clash between the Cyber pony and Zony. Evil Pie bounced up and down cheering on her brainwashed slave. “Get her Blackjack, killing her makes you one step closer to killing Dawn!”

“And killing you stops this insane party!” Evil Pie’s attention snapped back to her sister, who was pointing the multiple barrel cannon at her. “Surprise.” Bloody tried to spray her with 5mm led but the build-up of the miniguns was too slow as Spy Pie pulled the ignition string.

“Whatoh!” Evil Pie hopped from her chair as mortar fire rained down. As the mortars exploded they unleashed a thick smoke that covered the entire arena. Slapping goggles to her eyes, Spy Pie darted through the fog with a pistol in her mouth as she searched. “Where are you, you drugged-up party whore.”

Dodging an incoming buck, Spy Pie staggered back as Bloody Knife stepped out of the smoke in front of her. The motor of miniguns revving up to tear her to pieces. “So your Mistress Sister, gotta say she got the looks between the two of you.”

Spy Pie didn’t inherit many things from her mother, not her looks, her sense of humor, her attitude, but she did inherit one thing. Her ability to dodge. Spy Pie hopped out of the way of the roaring miniguns, and onto the back of Bloody Knife then pulled out an apple shaped metal object that pulsed with blue energy, an EMP grenade. Pulling the pin with her mouth, Spy Pie flipped away from the iron mare as the grenade exploded in a wave of electric energy. She heard the thump of the iron pony hitting the ground and decided she wasn’t worth finishing off. “Your not worth my time. I got a sister to deal with.”

She heard the clashing of steel and looked back to flashes in the thick fog. She thought for a minute of helping Rampage with Blackjack but dealing with her sister took priority. “Rampage I’m going after Evil Pie, can you subdue Blackjack?” She hated leaving ponies when they needed help but Evil Pie couldn’t escape, especially not with the Dream Projector.

Rampage grabbed Blackjack into a hug, not even daring to take her eyes off her friend as she shouted “Go! I can deal with this.”

Spy Pie nodded as she darted through the smokescreen like a mare on a mission.

Rampage fought to keep Blackjack pinned, she could easily do it but with her strength, she could snap the Cyber Mare in two on accident. Meanwhile, Blackjack was thrashing around fighting with all her might to break free. “You can’t beat me, Harbinger mutant freak!” Blackjack back headbutted Rampage just enough that her grip loosen, breaking free of Rampage’s hold Blackjack reached behind grabbing both forehooves, then suplexing the Zony in front of her.

Before Rampage could recover Blackjack was on her, jumping on her and pinning the striped mare to the ground with her weight as she wrapped a talon around the Zony’s throat while repeatedly punching her with the other.

“Kid.. you gotta snap... outta it.” The Striped Mare looked at her trying to find any trace of her friend. But all she saw was the sickly pink eyes that stared down with hate, hate that burned in every inch of her being, the type of hate that consumed you like a poison. Rampage had only seen Blackjack express that hate for one mare. She knew on some level her friend was lost.

“No one is stopping me from getting Dawn, not you, not any Harbinger! I’m gonna kill every last one of you until she faces me!” Blackjack continued her endless assault on Rampage, tearing pieces of metal and flesh off the striped mare with her free talon. “I’m the Demon of the Stars, and I will bring death to you all!”

Rampage, realizing anything she said would be in vain, closed her eyes and sent a mental prayer to the only mare that could free Blackjack. Lacunae, Blackjack, she needs you. she’s lost, brainwashed! Thinks the Harbingers are back, thinks Dawn is alive. The zony prayed the Alicorn would hear her pleas.

Through the torrent of anger that was her mind, through the mental walls of her thoughts, Blackjack heard a voice speak. Blackjack. She tried to block it out, to put up walls to keep out that voice. She had a mission, a goal, she wouldn’t be stopped. Blackjack, you must let go, must let go of your hate.

Finally, she spoke. “Let go?! Let go of everything Dawn took from me! Let go of my husband! Let go of Chapel, forget the family and friends she robbed me of!” Blackjack shouted into the sky, hoping the Alicorn would hear and understand. “I hate her Lacunae! I, HATE, HER!”

She is gone Blackjack, she can never take from you again. Do not let this poisonous hate for her destroy the family you have left.

“I Don’t have a family.”

But you do. Suddenly the smoke that surrounded her moved and blended of it’s own will. Forming into vague pony shapes until they transform into ponies Blackjack knew well. Charity stood in front, the filly giving an annoyed frown. Rampage stood to the side, that mix of motherliness and best friend as she waved hello. Lacunae stood in the back, her usual expression of a wise yet judging teacher and friend. And in the middle stood Blackjack, loved, cared for, and around the ponies that care for her the most with the brightest smile on her face. If you continue down this path Blackjack all that remains of your family will be ripped away from you. The smoke image of her friends parted to reveal Rampage held in her grip, her healing factor closing up the wounds Blackjack inflicted. The Cyber Mare looked to her friend to see what her hate had caused. Let go Blackjack, purge this hate, or face your destruction.

“I..” Blackjack stood up, looking down at the Zony she called friend. “I, I can’t do this anymore.” She got off the Zony, allowing Rampage to quickly hop to her hooves. “ I can’t forgive her but I will forget her.” Blackjack closed her eyes and when she reopened them the sickly pink was gone, the red glowed had returned.

She looked at Rampage, almost ashamed to make eye contact. “I'm, I’m sorry Arloste. I’m sorry.” The words were a broken stutter, that hurt to say.

Hooves wrapped around her as Blackjack was brought into a tight embrace. “It’s okay child. It’s okay. Everything is alright now.”

Blackjack lost for words simply just hugged back. The two mares sat there for a minute before finally breaking off.

Rampage gave a reassuring smile as she placed a hoof on Blackjack’s shoulder. “Don’t go scaring me like that again Jack. I can’t die of a heart attack but feeling one is still a pain.” That got a smile out of the Cyber Mare.

Remembering something Rampage reached for an item that was tied up in cloth. “Oh, I brought you something, Jack. You drop something important back at the MOM hub.” Grabbing the cloth with her teeth, Rampage laid it down on the ground and undid the knot holding the cloth up. “Your weapons.” The cloth opened to Blackjack’s prized Star Sword and her family’s heirloom, the 12.7mm pistol, Vigilance.”

Blackjack’s face lit up with excitement and relief. “Thanks, Rampage I don't know what I would do if I lost these.”

. “Don’t mention it kid. You know I got your back.” The striped mare looked her over as Blackjack wasted no time equipping her gear. Rampage often viewed every pony as a child, but for Blackjack it was different. All her faults, all her problems, the Cyber Mare held a place in Rampage’s heart, a place one other pony held. “Come on Kid, let’s go take down that crackhead version of Pinkie Pie.”

Blackjack nodded as she holstered her sword. “Yeah, but where did she go?”

“I saw Spy Pie.” Blackjack looked at Rampage in complete confusion. “She’s a good clone of Pinkie Pie.” More confusion. Rampage just rubbed her head at having to explain. “Just know there’s a good Pinkie Pie and an Evil one. Anyway, I saw her galloping off that way.” Rampage pointed to another side of the tent. The smoke was clearing showing a second opening label ‘exit’ by a wooden sign. “If we hurry we can-”

Rampage dodge a beam of magical energy that flew past her and Blackjack, snapping their attention to the attacker they saw Bloody Knife, barely standing, her eyes glowing with magical energy. “Your not going anywhere. I’m not letting you assholes ruin my second good gig!” She fired another beam of energy at the pair which they dodged out of the way.

The iron mare didn’t give the two Demon Mares any time to counter, Firing beam after beam at them as they dodged. Rampage and Blackjack ended up about a yard apart. Realizing every moment they wasted with this washed up merc was another moment Evil Pie could get away, Rampage settled on an idea she hated. “Blackjack, go find Spy and Evil Pie, I will deal with her.”

She didn't want to separate from Blackjack again and risk her getting captured or worse. But there was no solution she liked, Blackjack was faster, more agile. She could find Evil Pie in the halftime Rampage could. “Go! I will cover you.” Rampage pointed a hoof towards the back exit, Blackjack got the picture and ran off.

“Oh no you don’t!” Bloody’s eyes burned as another beam of death blasted out. With Blinding speed the beam slew towards the Cyber Mare, only to strike Rampage’s damage but durable armor.

The beam bored into the armor, heating it up and pushing Rampage back, but she stood her ground. “That’s all you got you tin can jackass.” Slamming her forehooves into the ground as an anchor, Rampage withstood the endless assault of energy like an unbreakable wall. She looked back at Blackjack as she exited the tent. “Don’t get killed, kid. Don’t get killed like her.”

Turning her full attention back to Bloody, Rampage began slowly advancing towards the iron mare by ripping a hoof out of the ground and smashing another in to keep her anchor as the magical energy kept hitting her. “Now then, how about I show how good I am at metal wielding.”

They both stood atop the rollercoaster staring at each other, facing each other down for the last time. Below them was the burning sight of their mother’s hoof work, the park once a reminder of old world joy turned nightmare was burning away as the fires spread. And one of them would join it soon.

“You know Sis if you just let me have my fun I would have left you alone. But Nooo, you gotta be the killjoy that shits all over the party.” Evil Pie held her cane in her forehooves, ready to attack at any moment.

“Sorry I hate your type of fun. It’s gross, unnecessarily sexual, and it usually ends with some pony dead.” Spy Pie said through gritted teeth as she held a pistol in her mouth. “Your nothing more than a narcissist drug fiend party slut who thinks they can rule the world with a bad sense of humor!”

“At least I have a sense of humor, you wash up hazbin!” Evil launched herself at Spy, swinging the cane at the gun.

Before Spy could fire the gun it was knocked out of her mouth grip, falling to the park below. Dodging another swing, Spy tried countering with a buck. Only for Evil to hop over it and dropkick Spy over the side of the roller coaster.

Spy Pie grabbed the railing with her tail, then used it as leverage to lift herself up Flipping onto the tracks, Only to find no trace of Evil Pie. “Where did you?”

“Up here stupid!” Spy Pie’s eyes shot up to the sky, there was Evil Pie being lifted off by a giant balloon tied to her tail. “See ya Sis, got parties to plan, drugs to make.”

“No, you don’t!” Spy Pie grabbed a knife from her belt in her teeth, then flung it at the balloon. Evil Pie smiled internally as she fell for her trap.

The balloon burst from the knife’s impact, making Evil Pie drop like a rock towards Spy Pie. Reaching into her mane, Evil Pie pulled out a cream pie, throwing it at Spy which she blocked with her hoof. Leaving herself wide open as Evil landed in front and punched Spy in the stomach. Knocking Spy back a little Evil didn’t give her any time to recover, rushing her sister she delivered a punch to the face, then balanced herself on one hind leg as she performed a spin kick to Spy’s face.

Spy Pie nearly fell off the track but Evil grabbed her nack with her tail, and used it to repeatedly punch Spy over and over again, every time nearly knocking her off only to reel her back in for another beating.

Spy tried to break free but couldn’t find any time to counter. Evil Pie decided it was time to finish it, lifting Spy Pie up with her tail and smashing her repeatedly into the tracks, she kept doing until she heard the sweet sound of ribs breaking.

Throwing Spy Pie to the tracks cracking a few bones as she landed, Evil Pie loomed over her sister. She pulled a knife out of her mane with a malicious grin on her face. “You know Sis I never did bake you a cake for your birthday. I think it’s time I make up for lost time by baking you one.” Evil Pie froze with fake shock. “Oh, I’m sorry I meant baking you into one!” She laughed like a mad villain.

“Fuck you.” Spy spat through coughs of blood.

“But first before baking let’s turn that frown into a smile.”

Evil Pie leaned down, ready to get carving. Only for her tail and mane to twitch like crazy. Hopping into the air she narrowly dodged a sword jab from Behind. Flipping through the air and landing on the tracks a few feet away. In front of her stood a very messy and pissed off form of Blackjack.

The Cyber mare stared back with one look in her eyes, ‘I’m going to kill you’ was all they said. Evil Pie rolled her eyes, clearly, this freak didn’t learn her lesson the first beating, this time the horseshoe was coming off. Her only reply was “Bring it”

They rushed each other, their hooves clinging against the metal rail track. Evil Pie got the first strike, throwing her knife at Blackjack for which she easily dodged and countered with a jab. Evil ducked under her and uppercut the Cyber Mare. She then tried to grab Blackjack by the waist, but Blackjack reversed grabbed her, lifted the pink pony up, and slammed her onto the track.

Blackjack tried to stomp her but the pink mare rolled off the side of the tracks. Blackjack quickly went over the side to see if Evil Pie fell, only for her to swing up from the opposite side of the tracks. The pink mare launched an air buck which Blackjack quickly swung around and grabbed both her hind legs. Blackjack tried to flang her off the rollercoaster but Evil wrapped her tail around Blackjack’s neck and straggled the mare until she let go.

They both backed up from each other, Blackjack moving closer to Spy Pie looking down at the injured pony. She was breathing but she seemed to be falling out of consciousness. She needed a healing potion but Blackjack couldn’t give Evil Pie an opening by helping Spy. I need to deal with this other look alike first. She’s fast, quick on her feet, but I think I have just the move for her.

Turning around and lowering herself to Spy Pie, Blackjack started searching the mare’s belt for a healing potion. Evil Pie, seeing the perfect opportunity, rushed Blackjack, only to fall into the Cyber mare’s trap.

Blackjack crouched then launched a fast jump kick at the pink pony. No way she can block this! And that's when the pink mare caught her. “Huh?” Blackjack said in confusion.

“Pinkie sense fool, Pinkie sense.” Was Evil Pie’s only explanation.

Evil Pinkie threw Blackjack into the air, then hopped up and air bucked her. grabbed Blackjack with her tail and back air piledrived Blackjack back into the metal tracks. Blackjack coughed up blood as Evil Pie let go of her. “I call that Back Tail Smash. That’s two of my moves you got a front row seat too, lucky you.” Evil Pie boasted as she reached into her mane and pulled out another knife. “This was fun but I’m bored now. I Was considering keeping you alive but your too much a hassle to deal with.” Knife held in her teeth, Evil Pie approached like a serial killer in a slasher film. “Bye bye now Cyber Bitch.”

Blackjack tried to get on her hooves but the pain was too much, her attempt causing her to fall to her knees with a cling against the metal railing. Coughing up more blood and fluids, Blackjack’s vision blurred, her display HUB flashing various warnings about internal damage. The world swam around her as whatever Evil Pie was saying became white noise.

“I can’t lose here.” Blackjack spat, but she knew it was over. After everything she had gone through, leaving her Stable, becoming a hero, meeting her new friends and family, saving the hoof from the Harbingers, becoming the Demon of the Stars. This is where it ends, kill a top rollercoaster by an insane Pinkie Pie.

It doesn’t end here Blackjack, center yourself. Listen to the flow of the Elements.

The voice was like an answer from the goddesses themselves. I can’t Lacunae, I can’t. I failed every time I tried. I’m not as strong or powerful as you, I’m just some broken up cyber freak. Blackjack thought back to the training session, how she could barely lift a gun. You already told me why, I’m obsessed with Dawn, I’m so weak will I let this Pinkie clone control me? I tried to kill Rampage. I’m no better than a raider

You already have put your hate aside Blackjack, that is why you broke free of her control. Now, you must let go of regret. You must let go of everything. Let the world fall away and listen to the current of the Elements. Blackjack closed her eyes, blocked out everything. Pinkie, the burning park below, the rushing of the wind around them. It all fell away as silence filled Blackjack’s mind.

Blackjack was surrounded by nothing, nothing existed in all directions, nothing but the void. Blackjack needed nothing, no regret, no revenge, no power. She could hear the flow of the universe all around her, the currents of an endless ocean that encompass everything. She was everywhere and nowhere at once, she was everyone and no one. She could feel the pattern all of Equestria flowed, the Elements of chaos, death, destruction, and conflict reign. Their opposite flowed under them like lower layers.

Blackjack could feel them moving, affecting everything in the Wasteland and beyond. How they created strife but also salvation. Every battle, death, and tear were because of their will, and how she saw it.

Good, see how the Elements shape our world. They are like storms with a will, causing events to happen all throughout our universe. But we are not without free will, how we chose to respond to them is up to us. Harmony ruled Equestria for a thousand years until the Element of Conflict return. We chose to let that Element control us until it brought about the Wasteland. We gave into our hate and it destroyed us. Even the Elements of Harmony couldn’t save us as let certain Elements control us and rule us until we fell from grace. But you can be different Blackjack, you can hear their flow, you let go of all your desires, and for that, you can center yourself between all Elements, you can resist being consumed by any Element. You can reconnect to them through your soul and to your magic, the very life force of your being.

Blackjack could feel it, it was herself, her very being. It was like a burning fire, a fire she thought she had lost when Dawn destroyed her horn. She let that fire build inside her again, grow from a flame into a roaring inferno until it consumed her.

Evil Pie stood above her prey ready to strike. “Aw, praying to Celestia or something huh? Don’t worry gloomy head you’ll be meeting her in a minute, so let’s make you SMILE.” Pinkie brought her head down ready to slash Blackjack’s throat when a white aura surrounded her.

The aura grabbed her hooves and lifted her up. Her hooves were spread out in an X shape as she floated into the air. Blackjack stood up, her eyes opened showing them burning red like a roaring fire. Blackjack’s expression changed from a defeated mare to an angry goddess.

“What the fuck! Your horn is broken!” Evil Pie just stared on in complete confusion, this was a surprise she couldn’t predict. “How?”

Blackjack’s voice was tip with poison as she growled. “I’m going to kill you.”

Blackjack’s sword, which lay held in between the tracks, was consumed by the same aura that held Pinkie. Floating to her side, the blade pointed at Pinkie as if it had a mind of its own. “Time to play pin the sword on the pony.” Blackjack's sadist side rarely came out, but when it did it was a thing to be feared.

“Hey Blackjack, uh, you know that was a joke right.” Evil Pie’s usual cheery demeanor deflated as the weight of what was about to happen hit her. “I was just giving my raiders a show, they demanded we play that. I wanted to recruit you the normal way, but they wanted revenge on you or something, so they wanted me to brainwash you.” Her lies were falling on deaf ears. “I already lost everything. My park, lots of ponies, you already won. You can have the Dreamland projector, I’m overruling the world you know. Can’t beat you, so I’m giving up and leaving okay?”

The sword was prime and ready to strike, Evil Pie went into full panic mode at what was coming next. “Wait Blackjack, no!” The sword flew at her like a bullet, impaling all the way through the chest until the guard reached her chest. Evil Pie coughed up blood until she stopped moving. “Guess I got the party favor in the end huh?” She stared at Blackjack one final time before going limp.

The sword slid out of her as the magical aura faded around her. She fell to the red haze of the burning park below until she disappeared into the smoke and fire.

Blackjack grabbed her sword as it floated. hoster it, She took a long breath then fell to her knees. It was over, she’d won again. She was tired, injured, and wanted to drink some whisky, but all that could wait until she was finished helping her friends.

The morning sun could be felt even through the cloud cover, its warmth making last night’s hell seem like paradise. These were the moments Blackjack lived for in life, the moments of quiet after a storm.

She sat in the passenger seat of Rampage’s wagon. The striped mare packing a few goodies she had taken from the raiders in the truck. Spy Pie was looking over her pink motorcycle, she was tying the Dreamland projector onto the side of the vehicle.

“You think it’s a good idea to keep that thing?” Blackjack asked, she knew what that thing was capable of now and it worried her.

“Evil Pie built this thing to be as durable as a Pipbuck. Mom tried breaking it before but it was fruitless.” Spy said while wiping away sweat. “All I’m doing is taking it to somewhere no pony will find it.” She looked at Blackjack with a smile. “The bottom of the ocean.”

The cyber mare chuckled a bit at that. “And your sister said you weren’t funny.”

“Well dry humor was my thing, adult humor was her’s.” She looked at the projector again. “Though there’s still a risk some pony will find it someday.”

Rampage shut the truck and trotted over. “Let me deal with this.” Ripping the projector from its strap. Rampage pushed the projector on both sides of it with such force it crumbled up like a newspaper. “Grip strength of 500 baby.”

“Wow, eh thanks.” Spy Pie didn’t know if to be dumfounded or thankful. “You two have been a big help to me.” She looked at Rampage’s hoof and shook it in a friendly thank you. “Without both of you, I could never have beaten Evil Pie. But you two really live up to the stories, you really are Demon Mares.”

“Don’t mention it.” Rampage nayed.

“If your ever in trouble again. You know where to call us.” Blackjack chined in.

“Yeah.” Spy’s expression was a certain thought that had been building in her mind since the morning started. “Actually I may need you in the future. Because there are certain questions I need answered.”

That perked Blackjack's interest, finding secrets was kind of a hobby of her since she left her Stable. Hell, it was the reason she left in the first place. “What questions?”

“There’s only two but their almost impossible to answer. One, how did Evil Pie get free. She was locked in a stasis pod with only high-level access to be able to open it. Only some pony with Celestia level access can free her. And second, who? I found out some pony sent a command to the facility she was in, but where did it come from, and from who? All the Ministry mares like my mom or the princesses can unlock them. Their all dead and had no foals, so who did it?”

More questions that needed answering, more secret projects for Blackjack to shed light on. “Don’t worry about it now. Just take time off and enjoy yourself, if you find anything just let us know we will be there.”

Spy Pie nodded in thanks, flipping onto her motorcycle she started that baby up with a roar. Rampage followed suit. “Hope we get together again, maybe I can throw you two a party.” Spy joked.

“I think after tonight we're done partying for a decade.” Blackjack especially was done with pin the tail games. “Let’s just go to a bar, drinks are on me.”

And with that, both parties drove from each other into the haze of the morning light of the Wasteland.

Hooves trotted through the ruins of the park, crushing remains under their steel royal footlock. A shadow slowly approached the body of a burned pink mare who was impaled through rebar. Evil Pie’s eyes lay open but empty of life.

The shadow laughed at the defeated form of his former enemy. “A broken copy of the Element Bearers. You will make a perfect tool to my collection.”

------------------------End

Mods used”

Pinkie Pie clones: creates two new NPCs, Evil Pie and Spy Pie that you can recruit.

Pinkie raiders: Quest mod that requires Pinkie clones, creates new villain faction and quest.

Lacunae and Rampage: The audacity of this bitch

Lacunae and Rampage: The audacity of this bitch

By Numbername

“bitch, you think you can come in here and run me! IN MY FUCKING HOUSE!”

“Why would I want to run a whore house like this when a hoe like you does a good job at that already.”

At that the two mares rushed each other, shouting swears while pulling hair.

“Get that bitches ass Sweet Tea. Buck her in the cunt!” Rampage clapped her forehooves together like a filly getting her favorite toy. “Never let that bitch get away with that type of smack talk!”

“Leave it to Mares in Rainbow hills to put Zebras in the hood to shame.” Lacunae floated her wine over for another sip, the alicorn chuckling a bit at the display on the screen. “Out of all the things we watched, this is the most trashy yet close to home for me. Only a Canterlot mare could make a pony from the literal ghetto look reasonable.”

Rampage huffed at that. “Oh god, the Rich Bitches I’ve met in the Wasteland are something else, Luu Luu. ‘Oh, I didn't know a Zony could exist, your mother must have been very loose' like what Bitch!” Rampage’s mocking got Lacunae to cough up her drink a bit. “But no Rich Bitch compares to the audacity of Homeland Zebras. Luu Luu, they're the most ignorant, stuck-up, bitches I’ve met.”

“Oh, I believe that. They're like a mix of annoying tourists, religious zealots,and high society all in one.” The Zebra homelands had suffered like much of the world when the bombs dropped. Unlike the rest of the world their suffering was more societal collapse rather than the utter destruction Equestria suffered. Losing their capital with most of their leadership, Zebras devolved back into warring tribes that fought with each other over what remained, society still existed, it just became warlords and city-states destroying what's left. Zebras still had a functioning society enough for some to travel. And when Zebras from the homeland heard there was a large community of Zebras living in the Equestrian Wasteland, some sailed to meet their distant cousins. Only to be hit with the cultural difference of the Equestrian Zebras and looking down on them for it. “I remember you opened a stand down by the dock, what shade of racism did you get? Hateful, stuck up, or fearful?"

Rampage shook her head. “Oh Luu Luu, all of them, ALL OF THEM. Sometimes all at once! ‘Aw, you don’t speak Zebra properly. you don’t practice shamanism right. Your potion brew is not to Zebra standards. What? your a ZONY! Your tribe allows such things!’' Rampage put on the mocking tone again. Lacunae could barely hide her chuckling as she drank her wine. “Like what the fuck?! Oh, and the type of racism varies from tribe to tribe. I’ve everything from a Propoli telling me my stand was an insult to Zebra architecture, to a Mendi telling me my potions anger the fucking spirits! Oh, oh Luu but the worst was the dark edgelords.

“Had a run-in with Starkatteri?” Lacunae knew the answer, and she knew how just speaking to one of them was like listening to a preteen rant.

“Luu Luu, every time I deal with a member of that tribe I feel like I’m about to punch a bitch.” The amount of contempt that radiated from Rampage’s voice was enough to poison a room. “Mother fuckers use a little dark magic and talk with evil spirits and they think their evil wizards from a fucking comic book.” Rampage looked at Lacunae with the most earnest expression. “Luu did I ever tell you about the time I almost had a Zeb moment at my store.”

The alicorn shook her head, clearly, she had been out of town when this happened. “Oh my, I never heard about this, Sekashi must have kept it from me.”

“Oh, I didn’t even tell Sekashi about this. I didn’t want her, Maria, or you to hear about me nearly acting a fool. It wasn’t at the docks though it was in Chapel, I was just setting up the storefront for the day when the bitch trotted in.” Rampage hopped off the couch onto her hind legs as she used her forehooves to tell the story. “She wore a black clock, like all the Starkatteri do because they think they're scaring some pony, but I could see the star striped pattern under it. I say to myself ‘don’t judge her Arloste. She’s a traveler like anybody else that comes to Chapel. If she made it out this far she has to be humble a bit.’ Oh Lacunae how fucking wrong I was.” Rampage said those last words slow and meaningful. “I got behind the counter and watched as she looked around the store, after a minute I asked ‘You need anything, miss?’ She just gave me the meanest stink eye. I shrugged that off, you know it was early in the morning and some people were grumpy, so I ignored it. She kept browsing for a few minutes until I heard her say ‘this garbage potion brewing, these talismans look like they were made by a foal. Zebras here have no culture.’ I didn’t let that bother me, every Zebra in the Wasteland gets that. I kept my opinion about her hair cut of hers to myself and let her pick up a few things.”

And then Rampage clapped her hooves together. “The zenith of that meeting was the checkout argument, Luu. She trots up to the counter with a few potions and a fighting talisman, I ring her up, then said ‘That will be 50 caps miss.’ She looked at me like I had grown six heads, she didn’t say anything for a whole two minutes as we just stared at each other.”

“She didn’t have money huh?” Lacunae guessed the zebra was from the homeland and probably lacked caps.

“No, I saw her pack of caps on her hind. She just expected to get free stuff from me.”

“Oh, I see. She probably thought since you were a Zony you would probably think she was cursed or could curse you by denying her service. Starkatteri loved to throw those curse threats around.” The Alicorn had witnessed the fear the Star tribe had in their homelands. Zebras feared them so much that the tribe basically could do whatever it wanted.

“And I was having none of that shit Luu.” Rampage nodded as she emphasized every word. “I said to her again 50 caps, please. She finally spoke saying ‘surely you know what I am?’ I shook my head at her question, ‘then you know that to deny Starkatteri items is to bring a curse upon yourself. My reply was ‘you can curse yourself out the front door.’ She was confused so she said ‘Maybe you misunderstood, I require supplies for my travels, you will listen or my curse will be wrathful.’ And so I finally said ‘Lady, if you don’t get your edgy trashy hobo-looking ass out now I will smack you so hard your stripes will fly off and become real stars.’ She was completely lost for words at that, don’t think that bitch had ever been told off before.”

Lacunae, eating the entire story up, poured herself another glass as she eagerly listened. “Oh, I can feel the Zeb moment from this.”

Rampage laughed a bit, it was good having a pony friend who she shared Zebraism with. “Oh it built up, we went back and forth with me telling her just to leave until she finally said ‘Who are you to disrespect me you fucking inbred hybrid race traitor.’ Luu, I was about to hop over the counter and drop this bitch.”

Lacunae raising a smirking eye at that. “Did the ass whipping ensue?”

Rampage let out the biggest groan of disappointment. “No. The only thing, THE ONLY THING stopping me was I didn’t want my daughter to see me beating the shit out of a fool. All this happened when Hope was ten, and I wanted to be a good role model. I didn’t want my little filly coming home from school to see me beating up a mare in the middle of town like we’re Zebras in Hood Wasteland edition. cuz I was going to drag her into the road, I didn’t want my shop getting bang-up.” The striped mare looked at her friend, a bit of shame in her words. “Also I didn’t want you, Maria, Sekashi, or my husband hearing or seeing me being Wasteland trash again. So I just trotted from behind the counter, grabbed her, she tried to fight against me but once she felt that grip strength she knew it was pointless and dumped her out on the street. She gave me the meanest evil eye but knew from the grab alone not to start shit.”

Lacunae floated her glass onto a table sitting in between the couch and TV. She found it amusing that for her friend’s vulgarness the striped mare tried to be an upstanding person in the eyes of her family and friends. She was more a proper mare than most in the Wasteland. “Don’t look down on yourself, Arloste. You are a fine mare in this blasted hellscape we call a Wasteland. Especially compared to me.”

That got a ‘what’ from the striped mare. “Whereas your life becomes an episode of Zebras in the Hood, my life before taking on this wonderful form before you was nothing but Mares in Rainbow Falls, but more violent.”

Rampage gave her friend the most disbelieving look ever. “Luu Luu I’ve been around you for 38 years and have never seen you whip anyone’s ass in public outside real fights. Hell I haven’t even seen you get violently angry with someone outside like Celestia worshipers and Blackjack.”

“Remember what I said early about Canterlot Mares?” The striped mare nodded. “My everyday experience living in Canterlot and being a student to the princess was being exposed to high society, and all the trash in it.”

Rampage perked up as she sat back down on the couch, hanging onto every word. “Tell me more Luu Luu.”

Like a good gossiper, Lacunae obliged. “Now I’ve told you about the finer Canterlot trash.”

“The bitch who cucked her husband with every servant is my favorite.” Rampage smiled like a foal at that.

“Yes, but all those stories had one thing in common. I was never the center of them. I was always just a watcher staring at other ponies ruining their lives. I tried to keep my distance away from the drama of Canterlot but when it found me I ended it with the quickness.” Sometimes permanently depending on how vile the situation got, but the Alicorn kept that to herself. “I dealt with everything from mares trying to get me into their open relationship to bucks trying to marry me to get closer to Luna. And every time I gave the look of ‘I’m Luna’s student, do not mess with me or else.’ But sometimes that wasn’t enough, sometimes a high-class pony needed a high-class beating.”

The Zony was a little taken aback by the level of vile she heard in the Alicorn’s voice. Lacunae got angry, she yelled every once in a while, but this sounded like anger filled with poison hate. “There were many cases where I let my less than civilized side out. But there was one case that really stuck in my mind.” Using her magic, Lacunae poured herself another glass of wine as relief for dragging these memories up “One day your mother decided to take a tour of Canterlot Castle along with baby you, I decided to accompany her since I knew the ins and outs of the Castle more than any tour guide. Also because it was the height of the war with the Zebras meaning she wasn’t allowed to take any tour, but being the heir of Luna allows me to bend the rules a bit.

“The tour was going well except for the evil eyes every castle guard, servant, and castle staff was giving us. But your mother long since learned not to care, she focused on the good in life not the bad, also she could beat their asses if she wanted too so she took pride in that.” That got a laugh out of the striped mare which Lacunae smiled at. “I decided since we were in Canterlot I would show your mother and little you the princesses since your mother looked up to Celestia so much, that was when on our way to the throne that a certain mare guard stopped us.” Lacunae gulped down a fair bit of the wine as the memories came flooding back.

“Now this mare was clearly not your average royal guard. She was a captain with the decor to spell it out for you, I could also tell she was a noble by the fancy armor and family crest. She gave your mother the same evil eye every pony else did but didn’t ignore us, after a minute she spoke to us ‘what are stripes doing here?’ I tried to speak but your mother spoke up first ‘Oh me and my ball of love want to see great Celestia. We're loving the castle so far.’ She was violently cut off by the bitch yelling at her ‘I didn’t ask you stripe!’ that bitch pointed a spear at your mother, I stepped in to explain to her ‘She’s here on my supervision.’ The bitch looked at me like I had broken every rule she could possibly think of. ‘Stripes are not to be allowed on Castle grounds! Your endangering the princesses!’ She then started listing off protocol going over every rule about ‘stripe travel.’ and how your mother needed to be watched at all times. Finally, I just said ‘I am the faithful student of Luna herself, if I trust some pony you will too. That is not a request, that is a fucking order.’” The anger was building in Lacunae as she recalled every word for that day, no matter how much she had become at peace with herself some things still set her off.

“She took the hit, bowed, and let us pass to the throne room. But just as we were about to pass she tried to trip me but your mother got in the way, and she nearly fell on you Rampage. She saved herself at the last minute by balancing on one hoof. I had to magically lift you out of your carriage to make sure you were alright. All while that bitch gave a ‘Zebras have light feet: comment. I stared at her with murder on my mind. I knew what she needed, but your mother quickly step between us and gave me a look saying ‘it’s not worth it.’ So we continue the tour but I wasn’t going to let that mare off, oh no she needed to be reminded of her place.”

“I needed permission first. So after the tour, I approached the only mare who could give it, Princess Luna herself. I told her of the accident, how the mare treated your mother, how she disrespected me, and how she struck your mother. Luna understood and gave permission to seek retribution. You see Luna had very ‘medieval’ views on the world, being banished for a thousand years does that, back in her time's such disrespect only is met with rightful payment. A dual.”

Lacunae took one last gulp of her drink before floating the glass onto the table. Her nerves calmed as the liquor did its job. “I waited until the guards changed shift to confront her, she would have been changing in the locker room with the other mares in the Royal Guard then, it was the perfect time to destroy her. I found her talking with others of her rank about the ‘filthy Zebra and her half-breed daughter.’ She called me the princess’s pet, saying ‘she would wipe that murderous expression off my face.’ So I said I would take that challenge. I stood there in front of dozens of Royal Guard mares demanding satisfaction for the wrong she showed your mother and you. She refused me, said a princess toy like me wasn’t worth her time. That’s when Luna appeared behind me, all fell on her as she spoke. ‘You have insulted my student and her guest in my Castle, you will either fight my student and end this wrong or you shall be banished from the guard for insulting me.’ She had no choice but to obey.”

Rampage saw something on Lacunae she had only seen from raiders, a smile of sadistic pleasure. “We fought with no weapons, no gear, no magic, simple hoof to hoof. Like in the old times, she sized me up as a threat, I looked her over for the places that would cause the most pain. She wanted to beat me, I wanted to break her. Our fight wasn’t long, it wasn’t flashy, it was quick and brutal. It wasn’t much of a fight for when it was over she lay broken and bleeding against a locker, her left hindleg snapped, while I stood untouched covered in her blood. She wasn’t dead but from what I heard she needed care for a week. Luna didn’t criticize me for my brutality, unlike her sister she understood that I needed to write that wrong and this was the only way. After that none of the guards would dare make eye contact with either me or your mother when we toured the castle.”

Lacunae looked with a longing expression, moving in closer to the striped mare she placed both her forehooves on her shoulders as she stared deeply into the Zony's eyes. “Do not look down on yourself, Arloste. You are a fine mare who carries herself more than most ponies do in this whole blasted Wasteland. The fact you reframed from harming that Zebra all to be a good mother figure would make your own mother shed a tear, her daughter is a proper mare.” Lacunae spoke every word earnestly. “You're a better mare than me Rampage and I mean that.”

The Zony didn’t know how to respond. It was probably the highest compliment she had gotten. “Thank..thank you Luu Luu. That means a lot.” The striped mare hid the mist that was building in her eyes. “I don’t think you're bad either Luu Luu, you just wanted to protect my mom. Yeah, your a little violent but that just means you care about the people around you.”

The Alicorn gave the warmest smile as she embraced her friend. “Always looking to cheer me up. Thank you Arloste.”

They broke off their embrace as Rampage pointed with renewed valor. “If you need to feel good about yourself Luu Luu there’s 200 more episodes of trash rich bitches punching each other to make you look reasonable.”

Lacunae nayed at that. “Can’t argue with that. I may not be a proper mare but at least I’m not them.”

The two resumed their TV watching, cheering the trashy mares fighting.

-----------------------------END----------------------------------

Blackjack: Hell Riders

Blackjack: Hell Riders

We were the goddesses of the road, the Hellmares to all who travel the 75. We are the wind of death, striking down all who do not pay our tribute to move across our great land. Raiders, Slavers, Mercs, Traders, Travelers. Their reasoning does not matter, only the fact they pay us the proper respect!

We are the Hell’s Nightmares! The Deadliest tribe to master the Motorcycles of the dead world. And we'll burn that name into all who ride the road! And now was the perfect time to prove our words.

Below us trotted a herd of dozens of travelers, all standing around or riding in caravans pulled by their cows, brahmin. Mercenaries wearing well-crafted armor, showing off their softness, guarded their clients with bored expressions. Their weapons, a mix of SMGs and rifles fused to battle saddles hungered for combat. We will not disappoint them, no instead we will make them part of the 75 forever!

I looked at my mares, they bore our tribe's wears proudly. Iron armor with leather worn over it, painted with burning flames with Luna’s eyes in the center. They all gripped the handles of their cycles with an eagerness that made me smile, their weapons equipped to their rides hunger for battle.

“BRING THEM HELL LIKE THE DEVIL MARES YOU ARE! BE THE WIND OF DEATH!” I shouted the warcry as our cycles roared to life. “BRING HELL!”

We rode down the canyon hills like mad mares at blinding speeds. Our prey had already heard our war cries and was preparing a hasty defense. They tried to turned their wagons into a makeshift circle to take pot shots from. Big mistake, for they didn’t know our main weapon. A spell passed down in our tribe for generations.

My horn lit up, magical energy engulfing my mane as it flowed more and more freely. Its energy flowed through it like lightning until my mane turned into a burning inferno. My eyes spit fire as I took on the form of the Hellmare, the flaming rider of the 75.

With a shout I sent a ball of flames soaring into one of their wagons setting it ablaze. The defenders did not know how to react to this sudden change, screams of fear and confusion being music to my ears. As I rain down more hell fire on them my herd took to this opening to deliver quick strikes upon our foes. Riding through the flames, shooting, throwing explosives, or running ponies down in their path. Some didn’t return, some returned with battle scars to prove their valor, and some returned with trophies of their victories. It was a slaughter fest Goddess Luna would take great joy in seeing.

As our prey began to thin out, some waved the white flag wishing for mercy while their friends were fleeing. There was no mercy, no forgiveness, no heaven. All those who disrespected the 75 were to be buried under it! With the roar of my engine, I blaze a trail of pure fire as I hunted the survivors, burning each under my wheels so that their ashes would become part of the pavement.

When it was done all that remained of the travelers was burned corpses, the Wasteland would consume what was left. This would be another story engraved with the tales of Hell’s Nightmares.

None would stop us, none could challenge us.

That night in the hidden valley we called home we celebrated with the spoils of our victory. I sat upon my throne of iron watching as my mares drank, sang, and ate on the fruits of our victory. I saw young riders who had proved themselves telling tales of their heroic actions. I saw older mares talking about how this raid will benefit the tribe for a while, thinking of the future and what it holds for us. I sat there as their Hellmare, their leader and priestess of the road.

I was the strongest Unicorn of this tribe, I would stand as an unstoppable force to any who dare threaten us.

All was good along the 75 until she came, we heard rumors of her, her feats were treated like myth around the Wasteland, a monster spawn of old world technology. I chose to believe in them partially, so when I heard the Demon Mare was coming along the 75 I had to greet her.

We stood atop our hill slope watching the road for any signs of the so-called Demon Mare. That’s when in the horizon appeared, a dot that sped across the 75 like one of our motorcycles. We were shocked by this, few in the Wasteland knew how to restore the cycles of old.

As the dot came more into view we saw her. The black metal limbs, her barding bearing the number 99, her helmet that glowed red from it’s visor. She was the image all the rumors had built her up to be.

I was so struck by her existence that I didn’t notice some of our younger, more eager mares driving down to greet her. They shouted our battle cry as they sped down the slope towards they ill fated ‘Demon Mare’. Four of them drove with fury of the wind in their hearts, they saw this kill as their chance to gain legendary status.

That’s when to my horror I saw the deadly skills of the Demon Mare. She jolted to a stop, pulling out a large rifle and fired it rapidly at my approaching mares. One by one my fillies fell, being consumed by flames as their rides exploded.

Flaming bullets, this bastard dared use flames against us!

With the loudest warcry I could muster I shouted. “BRING THE WIND OF DEATH!”

My mane turned to flames as my eyes bellowed fire. I would show this Demon Mare that she was nothing to the Hellmare of the 75.

I blazed fire in my wake as my herd descended the slopes like a landslide. The Cybermare still took shots at us, picking us off one by one but she could not stop the inferno of death running towards her. She knew this and drove off down the road, we gave chase knowing she would soon become part of the pavement of the 75!

As we chased her down the road, the distance between us shrunk until we had almost surrounded her. That’s when she tricked us, she stopped full force causing us to dodge out of the way to avoid crashing. That’s when she went on the attack, pulling out two different pistols from hosters around her waist and firing them at us as we tried to dodge, with scary accuracy she downed five more of us.

I reared around ready to blast hellfire into her but the mare had quickly driven off before we could attack. We gave chase again, this time taking shots at her with our guns equipped to the bikes. I blasted balls of flame that she weaved and dodge out of the way of. Some of the more vengeful of my mares put their engines to speed to break formation and face our enemy on their own.

They all met violent ends. The Demon Mare upholstered a broadsword and slashed at any who tried to attack her, one mare lost her left forehoof, another her head, one was simply impaled by the weapon. All of them fell to the road becoming part of the 75 forever.

I’d had enough of this Demon Mare! She spilled the blood of too many of my tribe.

I grabbed the chain wrapped around my waist in my teeth. Magical energy flowed through it as the same fire that bellowed from me consumed the chains. Putting my ride to full speed I focus all my energy on doing one thing, destroying this monster.

Zigzagging towards the mare as I whipped the flaming chains about, I was rewarded with it wrapping around the Demon’s exhaust pipe. “GOT YOU!” The chain in my mouth burned so brightly they became blinding. “DIE!” her cycle was engulfed in fire that burned as hot as the sun.

But much to my horror I saw she had leaped off her cycle, and was falling towards me. Before I could react she delivered a kick that sent me flying off my bike onto the road. I tumbled around my vision becoming a spinning haze as I landed. As the rolling stopped I coughed without end, the world around me became a blur.

All the sounds I heard were white noise, I must have sat there for minutes as the pain finally caught up with my body. My right forehoof felt wrong, I could feel blood coming out of my flank, I must have scraped it in the fall. I tried to get on my good hooves but my body protested. I could only pray my riders were dealing with the Demon Mare.

But as my hearing returned I noticed that the sounds of battle were wearing down, and more frighteningly the sounds of Motor hums. Then I heard it, the slow approach of metal hooves.

She appeared upside down to me, staring at me with that black void she called a visor. She pointed one of those pistols she used to burn my mares with intent to do the same to me. That’s not how it works! You don’t burn the Hellmare, she burns you!

My magic spur to life as my mane became fire again. I roared flames at the Demon Mare causing her to jump back. Against the protest of my body I got on my hooves, my hate for her being my driving force to keep fighting

She holstered her pistol and took a fighting stance. I unleashed a cloud of fire at her which she rolled out of the way of. She tried to rush me but I created a wall of fire that stopped her. I created a circle of flames around me only for her to leap above them and land beside me. She swung at me but I bucked her back, countering with more of my fire breath. The circle around us closed as the flames grew. I didn’t have to hit her, just close her in.

Finally, I tried to blast her with another fireball only for her to power through it and charge me head-on. Before I could react she was on me. And that’s when I felt it, the most extreme pain I felt in my life. With one slash she had destroyed me, with one slash she had taken off my fucking horn!

I screamed as I had never screamed before, but even in pain, I wasn’t spared her brutality, as she unleashed a series of punches that knocked me unconscious.

When I woke up, the extreme pain was gone, replaced with an annoying headache. My eyes opened to a familiar sight, the hidden valley of Hell’s Nightmares. I was looking down upon it from the highest point in the village, my house. That’s when I noticed I was tied to the metal railing on my balcony, I looked to see what was happening only for my gaze to fall upon the Demon Mare as she talked with my tribe.

They looked sad, angry, defeated. Those were not the faces Nightmares should have, then I saw it, the smoke and corpses that littered the town. She had come to my town and torched it!

My attention snapped back to her as she spoke. “As of today you have two options, open up the 75 for every pony and stop raiding or leave! There is no in between.”

Who the fuck was she to come to our home and make these demands! Does she not know who she’s dealing with? We would rather die than surrender to any pony!

But I watched something in my herd I never wanted to see, submissiveness. My tribe talked among themselves for a while, and they came to a decision. Half would stay half would leave, they would open the 75 to all that came.

My heart broke, my tribe was defeated. Our century-long reign over the 75 was gone like that by one mare. I couldn’t stay here, I couldn’t accept this. When my followers untied me I told them I wish to be anywhere but here.

So it was like that I saddled up with those who were leaving and bid farewell to my former home. As we were leaving I caught sight of the mare who had brought us down.

She stood upon the cliffside watching as we left, her pure white coat contrasting her red glowing judging eyes. She was the monster the myths led you to believe.

She was the Demon Mare, the one who can break the Hellmare.

Charity: Employee of the month

Charity: Employee of the month

“Charity, I think I deserve a raise.” I put my financial reports down as I looked at the fool that said those words to me.

Sitting across the desk from me was the cybernetic mare I had created to flourish my business, the same mare who was the worst fuck up in every job that didn’t just involve killing something, the idiot Blackjack. “Excuse me? Do you want to run that by me again?”

“I think I deserve a raise.” This fool folded her forehooves at me, she was staring me down like she was actually going to get me to say yes. “My work over the past few months shows I deserve a reward.”

I leaned back in my chair, crossed my hind legs, and gave her my deadpan stare. “And what makes you think you deserve a raise? What makes you think you need a raise above Lacunae?”

That’s when she proudly stood up and began marching around. “I took out the pirates raiding Golden shore bay. I opened the 75 and stopped the Hell’s Nightmares. I stopped the bandits of the Smoky hills.” She pointed a talon from her hoof at me like she had scored a victory. “And I did all this without Rampage or Lacunae. I worked twice as hard with no help boss, isn’t that deserving of a raise?” She gave me filly eyes, me, the filly who mastered that look when bartering with consumers.

“Oh, oh really. You think that deserves a raise?” I put my hooves on the desk as I leaned forward ready to tear her down. “You think you need a raise?! Well, Blackjack let me tell you how much you've been costing me.” My horn lit up as I lifted a special book just for Blackjack’s fuck ups. “On your recent job you lost another new Highmare motorcycle that would have cost 4,000 caps to make.”

She tried to cut me off. “But, I brought in another bike I took from the Nightmares.”

“You brought a shitty 200-year-old relic. That thing costs half as much as your ride.” I ended that protest before it happened.

“On your Golden Hills job you blew up half the docks. I had to pay 10,000 caps in damages. On the Smoky Hills job you unleashed a feral ghoul horde, the client only paid half the price for that job.” I gave her the hardest evil eye I could, she started looking ashamed, good. “And all of that’s was in the last three months, you want to go back through the last year of fuck ups?

She shuddered as she tried to come up with a defense. “But boss, it's not fair! Why do Rampage and Lacunae get paid more than I do!”

She wanted a reason, I’d give her a reason. “Oh, I will show you.” I hopped from the chair and trotted past the cyber pony to the door. “Follow me.” As we walked through the newly flourish and clean halls of the O.I.A. hub we came upon the employee break room, entering the large room one sight caught our eye. The employee of the month wall.

“See that?” the Cyber Mare nodded. “I want you to tell me the order of ponies on that wall.”

Blackjack groaned in annoyance but obliged. “Rampage, Lacunae, Rampage, Lacunae, Lacunae, Rampage, Rampage, Lacunae, Lacunae, Lacunae.” She let out a loud breath.

“That’s why they get paid more.” I stomped to emphasize the point.

“Being a suck up.” she tried to grumble under her breath thinking I couldn’t hear her.

“Oh no no no my little pony.” I trotted up to the wall to make a little point that even Blackjack could understand. “All of these photos are for more than just impressing me. Every time Lacunae or Rampage gets employee of the month that means they have done something to help or improve the company.” I pointed to the first frame. “Rampage made deals with a town that’s now a partner of ours.” I pointed to the next one. “Lacunae found a more sound route for transporting our goods to our clients in the north.” And the next one. “Rampage unlocked a warehouse of old world-building material that we can use in our construction projects.” I stomped a hoof making sure my words were heard. “They did not simply do a job, they pushed this company forward.”

And here came the whining. “What? Boss, how am I supposed to do any of that! I’m not good at getting ponies to work for us.” Every time she did it just ended in them shooting at her. “Come on, there has to be something I can do.” She got on her knees, clapping her talons together in a begging pose with sad filly eyes again. “Please boss there’s gotta be something I can do

“No.”

“Come on please?”

Celestia damn it, of all the ponies I get cursed with as an employee it’s the crier. Memories of her whining her way out of a debt she owed me years ago came crawling back. If she put that crying to use I could make a cap off it. And that’s when it hit me.

“You know what Blackjack, you can become an employee of the month if you do a little job for me.” I smiled evilly at her.

She hopped to her hooves in childish joy. “YES! Thank you, boss, I will do anything you tell me.”

“Guns, Armors, Foods, bullets. We have all newly created goodies at the Crusader shop.” Blackjack shouted while spinning a sign around with a huge arrow on it. “Your one stop shop of fine products in this dead Wasteland.”

She stood in front of the shop, occasionally having to move around to make sure passersby saw her. Most of the customers at my sister’s trade hub built around an old world supermarket would pay little attention to my shop. But having a Cyber Mare running around while spinning a sign and wearing clown makeup got quite a lot of eyes and quite a lot of paying customers.

And Blackjack for the most part seemed to be enjoying her new position. “I hate my job.”

I watched my little clown bring in the caps from my viewscreen, sipping a fresh glass of apple juice with my legs crossed on the desk. “I have such good employees.”

-----------------------END----------------------------------

The intro

Once upon a time in the magical land of Equestria.

Life is a dance of the dynamic Elements, chaos and form, life and death, destruction and creation, and all the variety of concepts. when one Element enforces it will on the universe its opposite will respond with equal force in time, and so the balance if the Universe is maintained.

On Earth, this took the form of complete Harmony. For a Thousand years, Equestria was a kingdom ruled by an immortal princess who brought Harmony in everything she did. Ponies knew no war or violence for generations, and when every darkness did rise her heroes the Elements of Harmony sealed it away. However, such Harmony will only be answered by equal Discord, and answer it did with a war so awful it shook the very foundation of the world.

Magic and science became weapons of war, twisting ponies into mutant or cyborgs. The world was engulfed in conflict until finally, magic was into superweapons that destroyed all civilization. Forest burned, seas bubbled, mountains cracked, the world became a wasteland.

Cruelly replaced kindness, brutally became the law of the day. Those who had power and those don't become like hunters and prey. So the era of Harmony became an age of hell.

Warlord after warlord rose up, all seeking to carve their own piece of the corpse that was the world. Turning an already dead land into a battlefield, fighting for the relics of the old world.

But there was hope in that darkness. Four mares who would bring hellfire down upon the wicked, and be a Shield of Hope.

The Demon Mares. A cyber mare, a fallen Alicorn, an immortal Zony, and a capitalist Filly have united to bring cold brutal justice down on the heads of the scum of the Wastes, one bullet at a time. They will bring Harmony back to the world even if they have to down it in blood.

They say the strong should fear the weak, but the strong should fear the vengeful.

NEW HORIZONS